


Requited Bindings

by motherconfessor



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dysfunctional Relationships, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Fake Marriage, Handcuffed Together, Mentor/Protégé, Politics, Slow Burn, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:15:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/motherconfessor/pseuds/motherconfessor
Summary: "Do you even understand the magic that you played with?" Ambrose asked. "Sabrina, you've bound the first woman, the first witch to our Aunt.”
Relationships: Zelda Spellman/Mary Wardwell | Madam Satan | Lilith
Comments: 109
Kudos: 272





	1. the Regent and her Concubine

**Author's Note:**

> We're going to try something different. Instead of writing ahead, I'm going to just try and smash out the chapters.
> 
> PD still sits on 20 drafted chapters atm, but honestly, I need some serotonin in my life and someone to kick my ass to write this.
> 
> This is more of an experiment with writing a fantasy plot, so if you don't vibe with it, that's cool, but definitely, a slow burn romance because I'm a simp for these two.

Sabrina burst into Zelda's office and placed an object onto her desk. "I found something," she said proudly, pointing towards it. "Something that's going to save us."

Zelda set her paperwork down and picked up the vellum scroll. "Found what, exactly?"

"It's a binding spell. One that can tie the coven's magic to Lilith, like we used to tie ours to the Book of the Beast. Except, it just requires a placeholder instead of everyone doing it."

"And just where did you find such a spell?"

"In the library..." Sabrina said with far too much innocence than Zelda liked.

Unimpressed, she unravelled the scroll and looked over the text, it certainly was a binding spell of some nature, there was expertise in its creation going by the sigil alone. It would be complicated to re-create, but not impossible, and ingredients weren't too challenging to find as it was a bond through blood magic. 

"So?" Sabrina asked, eagerly bouncing on her feet. Zelda wound the scroll up again. Although it was undoubtedly _something_ , there were a lot of aspects at play, and the last thing she needed was for a spell to backfire. 

"Firstly, you would need Lilith to agree to this, and secondly I thought you said she couldn't help us because our source of magic is celestial––from the Dark Lord himself?"

"See, I don't think that true," Sabrina said. "Lilith was the first witch, right? What if Lucifer's magical gifts were never from him, but from Lilith, herself and she didn't realise because the Dark Lord manipulated her into thinking He gave them to her? I mean, most of the magic we see Him do is parlour tricks, right? When was the last time you actually saw Him _use_ magic, really use it?"

Zelda smiled. "Scholars have considered that an option before, Sabrina. But do you really think Lilith wouldn't be aware of her own magic being siphoned into others?"

"It's the Dark Lord," Sabrina shrugged. "Isn't anything possible with Him. And anyway, what could it hurt to try?"

"A lot," Zelda said. "But after everything that's happening with the pagans, I feel we're running out of time to find something else." She said, handing the vellum back to Sabrina. "If Lilith agrees, then so will I. Hell, forsake us all."

Sabrina beamed at her Aunt, taking the scroll. "You won't regret this. I promise. The magic will return, and everything will be better than it was before."

Zelda wished she could believe it, but as Sabrina ran out of the room, she couldn't help but feel that it would be all for naught. It seemed too good to be true. Just when they needed it, an infernal blessing arrives at their door?

Perhaps she was looking a gifted familiar in the mouth.

As it was, when she returned to the Mortuary that night for dinner, Sabrina caught her in the hallway. "Lilith said yes," she said, her excitement bubbling from her. "She doesn't think it will work either, but I think she finds it amusing. I'm not sure, either way, I know it's going to work, and all of our problems with the pagans will be solved."

"And if it doesn't and it horribly backfires?" Zelda asked, knowing Sabrina hadn't thought that far ahead.

"It won't."

"But if it does, what will _you_ do?"

"Reverse it. Come on Aunt Zee, we tried the moon and everything else, and at least we know what we're getting into with Lilith. She's been...actually decent as a Regent and helping me with everything. Can't you just trust me on this?"

Zelda stared at her niece's eager eyes and clenched hands, feelings the nail dig into her palms. "Fine," she said. "But if it doesn't work, you need to know how to undo it."

"Of course, don't worry. I'll get Ambrose to look it over."

"Dinner!" Hilda called from the kitchen. 

Zelda gave her niece a look before they adjourned to the kitchen, both silently seeming to agree to withhold the information from everyone else until such a time as it was appropriate. 

_May Lilith save them all_.

* * *

It was a Tuesday afternoon when Lilith agreed to attend the ritual. Zelda and Sabrina arrived early, setting up the sigil in the ground by drawing it with a birch wand, as the scroll dictated. They stood in the same section of the forest that they had tried to kill Lucifer barely a few weeks ago, pulling from the ancient power that had bled into the ground from centuries of magic.

When Lilith arrived, she presented a sapphire the size of a small fist, setting it on the stone altar and looked to them both expectantly. "This better work," she said, eyeing the red ribbon with hesitation.

Zelda agreed. Binding spells were notoriously tricky, ancient magic. Although Sabrina had proven herself competent in many ways, this was still an ancientspell that Zelda had no evidence to show that it worked––and yet if it did, all their problems could be solved.

Lilith would supply them with magic, the pagans would be banished, and the coven would flourish towards a new path of night blessed by Lilith. 

(Trepidation shook her here, uncertain as to how she felt worshipping the woman, but Lilith _had_ to be better than Lucifer. After all, who else could they worship? Asmodeus? Become pagan and lose all of their traditions? No, it was too much, Lilith was stability in these uncertain times, it had to be enough).

Zelda swallowed back the growing unease, allowing Sabrina to direct her all to where she should stand. They took their places, Lilith standing in front of her, less than an arms-length away, with Sabrina perpendicular to them both.

She looked to Lilith, feeling the cold blue eyes stare back at her in turn. A part of her wanted to ask if Lilith was sure about this––if she had any hesitations or concerns about using this bonding ritual, but she refrained from asking. The woman stood calm and present, her hands laced before her as she quirked an eyebrow, seeming to sense a question on her tongue.

Zelda looked away from the frozen visage to her niece, feeling the knot in her stomach tighten as Sabrina laid out the scroll onto the stone altar, placing paperweights down to prevent the scroll from furling back up as she lifted the dagger.

This was it, she realised. There was no going back.

In the forest by the Spellman Mortuary, Sabrina sliced the ritual knife over Lilith's hand first, and then to her Zelda's before she wound the ribbon over their hands, knotting them once, twice and then a third time before she stepped back to the Northern Axis of the sigil, holding the sapphire in her left hand.

"Are we sure this is going to work?" Zelda asked.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. " _Yes._ Now come on, let's say the words and get this over with. I have cheerleading practice in an hour."

Lilith looked ready to strike Sabrina, but she seemed to roll back her shoulders, standing tall as she gripped Zelda's bloody palm into hers, their cuts pressing together. "I bind this witch to my magic. Hers to mine and mine to hers, so let it be."

"So let it be," they all echoed.

Zelda gave Sabrina a sharp look before squaring her shoulders. "I bind my magic to this witch. Hers to mine and mine to hers, so let it be."

"So let it be."

Sabrina reached out, taking both their shoulders as the magic began to build between them. "I bind these two together. She to her and her to she, so let it be."

"So let it be."

The magic expanded, puncturing through the air and shattering the sapphire before burning threw the ribbon. Blue dust expanded and then settled over them as the magic seemed to bleed through the shards. It was exhilarating. The magic shook through her like an electric current before it tapered off, leaving a soft hum to the nerve endings.

She looked across from her, watching as Lilith's eyes fluttered open, a similar expression ghosting her face from the warmth of power flooding their veins.

Zelda was reminded then that there was a reason that transference of power usually required sex as the kinetic binder to the spell. 

It was different from how she remembered the Dark Lord's magic. His had been great and expansive as it filled her, but oily as it settled against her own magic. This seemed to bleed into her own, brightening her from within as it bound to her. 

She loathed to admit it, but Lilith's magic had a nuance to it that felt right in a way the Dark Lord's never had. 

She looked up at the air, watching as the trees swayed around them by a gust of wind picking up from the Spring air. It steadied her, planting her back into woods and pulling her away from the euphoric sensation.

"How do you feel?" Sabrina asked them both.

"Good," Zelda, her voice hoarse. Clearing her throat, she let go of Lilith's hand, dropping it to her side. A crackling of magic ran down her fingers before it settled as she curled her fingers into a fist, stepping away to where her coat was and pulling out a bandage to wrap her hand. 

"Any different?" Sabrina prompted.

"Tired," Zelda said. "But I'm sure we'll see if it worked over the next twenty-four hours.

"Well, I suppose that's my side done with," Lilith said, stretching her wounded hand. "I'll see you later," she said. Zelda noticed the tone and pointed stare towards Sabrina as if reminding her of an appointment they might have later. Or, Zelda realised with a sinking sensation, a reminder of a bargain struck.

Before she could ask, Lilith plane-shifted in a whirlwind of flames, leaving nothing but the faint smell of ash and brimstone in her wake.

And then it was like the very same fire consumed her. Zelda felt her nerve alight, the scream pulling from her lungs as she dropped to the ground. She was burning alive, every nerve ending feeling like it was blackening. 

"Aunt Zee?" Sabrina cried out, falling beside her, just as the pain stopped. "Aunt Zee, what's wrong?"

Zelda drew in a deep breath, her fingers curling around her abdomen as she stared at the foliage on the ground, wondering if Lilith had somehow betrayed them. She could feel Sabrina's hand on her back, gentle and soothing.

"What did you do?" Sabrina hissed. Zelda flinched, looking to her niece only to realise that she wasn't staring at her, but at Lilith who had reappeared.

"Me?" Lilith asked. "This was _your_ doing, Sabrina. I was in Hell for a _second_ before I felt as if every inch of me was being ripped apart. Whatever this binding spell is, I want none of it. Undo it immediately."

Zelda lifted her head, watching as the woman glowered at her niece, her red lips twisted in a scowl. 

Zelda pushed up to her feet, brushing off the bits of leaves and twigs that stuck to her and nodded her head. "Undo it, Sabrina."

Sabrina blinked, and Zelda felt a panic crawling up her throat as her niece looked between them, her eyes wide open with uncertainty. "I don't know how," she admitted. 

" _What_?" Lilith hissed as she stepped closer. Zelda stepped forward, putting herself in between her niece and Lilith. "What kind of witch goes in without knowing how to unbind the very spell she’s casting?"

"You did," Zelda reminded her. “As did I. Though I'm certain that between yours and my experience, we can manage to undo a simple binding spell."

Lilith scowled, turning to look away as she gritted her jaw. Her eyes searched around them before she stalked over to where the vellum scroll was laid out and looked it over. 

Zelda drew in a breath, feeling the echoes of the pain ripple over her skin as she glanced at Sabrina. "The scroll would have come with an unbinding ritual in the library. They're usually paired together."

Sabrina pressed her lips together, bouncing awkwardly on her feet. Zelda's eyes narrowed, watching as Sabrina's eyes darted away. "You didn't get this spell from the school’s library, did you?"

"Not...entirely."

Zelda swallowed. She knew it didn't come from the Spellman library, and although there was the possibility it came from another witching family, Zelda felt coldness wash down her self, "Sabrina," she asked, trying to keep her voice even. "Where did you get the scroll?"

"Hell."

Lilith's head shot up. "Certainly not from _me_ ," she said. "There's no way you even know where that library is!"

"Well, no," Sabrina muttered. "Technically I got it from...from the Dark Lord's chambers."

Zelda closed her eyes, feeling the headache pounding in her head worsening with each word Sabrina spoke. Hell, the Dark Lord? Did her niece not even _think_ before casting such magic.

“What were you _thinking_?” she asked, opened her eyes.

"I––"

"It's impossible," Lilith said. "No one but Him can get into those chambers."

"Well, I did," Sabrina said.

Lilith scowled. "No, what you did was walk directly into His hand. You may _think_ you outsmarted Him, but I assure you, He planned for you to find this and bring it back. Though what He'd want with binding me to your Aunt..." she trailed off, looking exasperated. There was odd energy about it as Lilith seemed to turn away, apparently amid an internal monologue as her eyes shot wildly around her. 

If Zelda didn't know any better, she might suspect that Lilith was having a panic attack. As it was, the woman seemed to settled, drawing her head back to look up at the sky and ground herself, before she looked back at them both. "There must be a way to undo this."

"Agreed," Zelda stated. "There are half a dozen ways to undo any binding spell and a dozen more for blood pacts. We'll go through them one-by-one."

Lilith's lips pressed together, but her head inched into an agreement, turning to glower at Sabrina. "Given this is your mess, you can fetch each ingredient yourself and bring it back here. I will not have anyone else find out about this."

* * *

Zelda took a sip of whiskey, feeling the residue headache ease as the alcohol washed down her throat. When she looked up from her glass, Ambrose and Hilda were still staring at them.

"So, let me get this right," Ambrose said, "Sabrina...went to the Dark Lord where He _implied_ that He may have misguided Lilith to where the source of our magic came from and so you went to Hell, broke into His private book collection, almost but didn't die, happened to come across a scroll for a bonding ceremony and thought you might perform it on Lilith and her High Priestess."

"Yeah, well when you say it like _that_ it doesn't sound good,” Sabrina muttered. “It wasn’t like He told me to get the scroll.”

“No, He did everything but and you walked straight into His trap,” Lilith muttered from the other side of the lounge.

"Do you even understand the magic that you played with?" Ambrose asked. "Sabrina, you've bound the first woman, the first witch to our Aunt.” He sat back, raking a hand across his face, feeling as exacerbated as she felt.

Sabrina grimaced, "I know, but in fairness, they did agree to it."

Zelda downed her glass of whisky. Even Lilith was quiet, her eyes looking over her nails as if her cuticles were the most interesting thing in the room.

"Zelds?" Hilda inquired. "Care to elaborate here?"

"It wasn't meant to be _this_." She set the glass down beside the lamp before easing back in the couch as her headache began to rise again. "Lilith and I were to bind our magic so that I could act as a conduit. _Clearly_ , it didn't work.”

"Instead neither of you can move more than fifteen feet away without either one of you becoming ill?" Hilda asked. “That is a _binding_ spell of some sort.”

Zelda rolled her eyes. 

“It’s more nuanced than that,” Lilith corrected, exasperation tugging at her words. “When either of us tries to teleport, we snap back to the other person, which as you can imagine, is a bit of a problem for what I need to do unless Sabrina wants to give up her time in Greendale?"

Zelda could feel the headache growing again. When Lilith had teleported away initially, Zelda had felt as if her whole body was tearing apart. When she'd snapped back, they'd both been hit with the rebound energy of the spell, leaving them both with a splitting headache.

It didn't help that they had both tried to teleport twice more in a stubborn attempt to break through the binding.

 _Fifteen feet_. That was barely a room across from one another.

"What reversals have you tried?" Hilda asked.

"Everything," Zelda spat, her eyes flashing at her sister. "Believe me."

"Binding spells are not intended to be unbound," Ambrose pointed out. As Zelda’s glare moved to him, he paled and looked away, rightfully embarrassed. "Right, well, I can certainly begin on some research, but I'll need a copy of the original spell."

"It's in my room," Sabrina said.

"What are we going to do about the Academy?" Hilda asked, "Are you just going to keep her in the same room while you do your teachings?"

Zelda groaned, dreading the very idea of Lilith sitting in on her classrooms and undermining her. Or worse, the meetings with the few remaining teachers they had left of the coven.

"No, because she's returning to Hell with me," Lilith said sharply. "As I said before unless Sabrina is going to return to Hell, I need to get back to my duties. Otherwise, Caliban will usurp the throne while we're not looking and then we’ll have bigger problems than this binding spell."

"He can't do that,” Sabrina said, looking between the two of them. “I mean, we have the Regalia to search for.”

"I'm sure he'll try," Zelda scoffed, loathing to admit Lilith was right. If no one were sitting in the throne for an extended period of time, it would certainly be open to the first person that managed to sit in it.

Lilith rose to her feet and stepped before her, holding out an outstretched hand. "Shall we?"

Zelda recoiled away, glaring at her. "I have both the Academy and the Church of Night to run. We still need to find a way to fix our magic."

Lilith dropped her hand, her face twisting furiously. ”I’m trying to be nice here. I don't need you to be willing to teleport us there."

Zelda glared, "Then I'll just teleport us back."

"That's an unnecessary expenditure of your already limited magic. Take my hand."

"I can't leave the Church. If the coven falls, so will the legacy you're trying to build."

Lilith's eyes narrowed, unconvinced.

"This is your church too if you haven't forgotten. If I’m not here, you’ll lose everything in the mortal realm, and one of the last standing covens of Hell _will_ collapse.”

Lilith's mouth pressed in a thin line before she stepped back. “Fine, we'll take turns. You can continue to run the Academy and the Church, but you'll remain in Hell for every other moment of your life until we sort this mess out."

"And lose my family?"

“The coven or your family,” Lilith said, “Or you could always let Caliban finalise his coup and have him turn the Mortal Realm into his personal playground, whichever you prefer.”

Zelda watched the woman's brittle smile held over her face, blue eyes turned frigid as they glared down at her. Of all the times she wanted to hex her, never had Zelda felt such a burning urge flicker through her. 

"Fine," Zelda conceded. "But I'll need to pack first, and––“

Lilith rolled her eyes, and it was the only warning Zelda had as she was grabbed and pulled into a teleportation spell. Heat and flames burnt around them before her feet found solid ground. 

She was still in a half-standing position when Lilith let go, causing her to fall back onto the marble ground rather ungracefully, her knees and hands smacking against the stone. Hissing, she glared up at Lilith, watching the ghost of a smirk turn cold as she stared down at her.

"Up you get," Lilith said, "we don't have time to dilly-dally."

Zelda pushed back up onto her feet, brushing herself off. She swallowed back the growing urge to hex the so-called Regent of Hell. "I need my clothes, my materials and at least some of my paperwork while I'm down here. You couldn't wait the few minutes it would take to collect that?”

"Yes, yes, all things happen in time," Lilith said as she walked away, over to a set of double-doors, pretending she hadn't listened.

Zelda followed, marching behind her as she walked from what seemed like a parlour room through to a bedroom. There she paused, her eyes drawing over the expansive room, before noticing Lilith open up a new doorway that seemed to lead into a walk-in closet to the size Zelda had never seen before. 

There were dresses, shoes and jewellery in a range of different styles, ranging from Lilith's usual attire she was familiar with to the more elaborate styles of clothing she expected of a courtier of Hell.

Despite the expansive racks of clothes, Lilith didn't do much outside of removing her sunglasses and setting them down beside similar sets. Instead, she dropped a glamour, revealing an impressive gown that seemed more fitting for where they were.

Zelda rolled her eyes, turning on her heel to admire the clothes.

Zelda turned around and looked over to the room. Her eyes flew over the ornate, dark wood bed, and then to the original works of art on the walls before looking over to the fireplace that sat on the other side of the room. Everything was beautiful and horrifying at the same time, with exquisite detail.

"I can see why you would want to return to Hell," Zelda said as she began admiring the art in closer detail. They all appeared original works, but she was hardly an expert in the field. Still, some of them were exquisite works exploring the female form or the old stories. 

"Hmm? Yes, well, I did mean what I said before. I have some business to attend to." Zelda turned around and found Lilith standing before her with a deep green gown in her hands. "Now we need to come with a story about why you're here."

"I'm Sabrina's Aunt, that be sufficient enough.”

“It won’t, and it would probably be best if you didn't mention that. Caliban would use you in an instant to make Sabrina forfeit the throne. Now, put this on."

Zelda took the gown into her hand and was pleased to find it was silk to the touch. It was a rather beautiful dress, designed without all the jewels and ornaments that Lilith wore on hers, though it was embroidered with gold thread that glimmered against the dark colour.

Despite her desire to wear it, she lifted her head, looking unimpressed. "What's wrong with my current clothes?"

"They're not suitable for a concubine," Lilith said with a smirk.

 _Concubine_ , Zelda’s brain seemed to short circuit at the word. _How dare she!_

"I am _not_ your––.”

"Uh!" Lilith interrupted. “Concubines don’t speak unless directed. So, unless you have a better reason as to why you've suddenly appeared and begun shadowing my every step, you will be my concubine until such a time as this _cure_ is broken."

Zelda felt her hands clench in the silks as she went through what other reasons she could be there to serve the Queen's Regent. Advisor seemed a possibility, but there’s no way any of them would approve that. She _was_ the High Priestess, but that raised more questions. No, in the end, nothing came to mind that was as plausible as a concubine. "Fine, but we need some boundaries."

"Boundaries later, get dressed now."

Zelda drew her spine up and glared at the woman before she stepped behind a panelled partition and removed her clothes, changing into the gown. When she stepped out, Lilith's eyes raked over her body, seeming to look for faults before she went over to her dressing room. 

Zelda turned to follow when she returned with an emerald encrusted hair comb.

“Here,” she said, stepping behind her before she drew Zelda's hair down her back, gently combing her fingers through it before winding it into a knot and placing the enchanted comb into the knot to hold it in place. The touch was soothing for the moment, and when it passed, Zelda was thankful she was irritated enough with the woman to have an impassive expression for when Lilith stepped back in front of her.

"It will do for now," Lilith said, drawing her eyes over her. Zelda didn't miss the brief smirk that ghosted her lips before she flicked her eyes back up to Zelda with an equally masked expression. "Oh! I almost forgot."

Zelda rolled her eyes, it seemed there was always going to be another thing. ”What else could I possibly require to look adequate?"

Lilith smirked and then she stepped close, so close that she could smell her perfume. Zelda went to step back but was stopped as she felt the woman's arm snake around her waist, holding her firmly in place. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Zelda asked, trying to push herself away from the woman.

"Don't worry. You'll enjoy this far more than I will."

Zelda watched as the woman's face loomed closer, her lips nearly brushing against hers. Then Lilith's face tilted and Zelda could feel had breath grazing against her jawline until––

Zelda gasped as she felt Lilith bite down on her neck. Zelda went to shove the woman off her, but the biting turned to sucking, and despite how much she wanted to be angry at the brazen attempt, Zelda felt a moan rise in her throat.

Her pushing hands began to curl into the material of Lilith's dress, holding her close. The hand around her waist slid up her back and splayed against her, holding her up.

And then it was over as fast it began. With a last lick against her pulse point, Lilith pulled away, her hand slipping away from Zelda to let the woman stumble back.

"Told you," she said with a chuckle, her thumb going to fix her lipstick.

Zelda grabbed at her throat, wiping the woman's spit and lipstick mark from her neck. She knew without turning around to the mirror that the woman had left a massive love bite, the size of which she hadn't had since her very first Lupercalia.

"Why in Satan's name would you do that?" she asked, spinning on her heel to face the woman.

"People need to know you're mine," Lilith said, reaching out to fix Zelda's make-up.

Zelda stepped back, glaring at her before she turned to the mirror and fixed it herself. Her eyes kept drawing back to the massive red mark on her neck, knowing that it was precisely what Lilith had said, a mark of ownership.

Now, more than ever, she wanted to slap the woman's face hard enough that her handprint was left across that cheek. _Damn her_! 

_Ownership_? Fuck that, fuck her and fucking that fucking spell. _  
_

"Now there are some a rule to go over if we're to make this work."

Zelda withheld a growl and turned back to face Lilith, "Rules?" she said. "Aside from marking me like some bitch in heat?"

"See, that's it. Try to hold your tongue. The less you speak, the fewer people we will have discerning the holes in our story. The last thing either of us needs is to be dealing with another coup while we're trying to manage this one."

Zelda drew in a deep breath, trying to not lash out at the implication. After all, it wouldn't look good if the Regent had a handprint on her face the same shape as some newfound witch in Hell, but by Heaven, it would feel good.

"So I'll just be your silent shadow, then?"

"Silent concubine," Lilith corrected. "Don't speak unless spoken to. Behind these doors, you can rant to your heart's content if you must, but this is my domain, and there's a certain decorum we must keep. I’ve been undermined enough as it is.” 

Zelda stretched her fingers at her side before adjusting the cuffs on her sleeves. "Fine, but this goes both ways, when you're in my domain, you'll be a silent observer."

"Agreeable," Lilith nodded, though her eyes narrowed as she said it. "Now, chin up, back straight."

"I know how to-"

"Uh-uh, silent concubine," Lilith warned before smirking at her. "Come now, pet. I have a court to bring in order. Oh, and do try to not to drool in amazement, it's not very becoming."

Zelda glared, clenching her jaw as she obediently followed the demoness out of the bed chambers and through the hall. Lilith led them throughs corridors and stretches of bizarre empty rooms with no rhyme or rhythm that she could see. They went up and down at least half a dozen stairs, through fifteen separate doors that only lead through more hallways (ones that looked remarkably similar to the previous one they exited from) that Zelda was near-certain they were lost.

And then Lilith pulled open a set of identical doors to the last dozen they'd gone through and suddenly they were in the throne room.

"Your Grace," a demon said, running up to Lilith and bowing low before her. "You've returned."

"Yes, I was off picking something up," she said before slowly turning to indicate the presence of Zelda. "This is my High Priestess, Minion. She'll be staying with us until such a time as I see fit and I expect the same courtesy you have for myself to extend to her."

"Of course," he said, turning to bow before Zelda. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady. Anything you require and I'll be of service."

Zelda went to respond before she saw Lilith's eyes flashing at her with a warning. Bowing her head, she smiled politely, hoping it didn't come across as strained as it felt.

"I assume there's the usual restless rabble awaiting to meet?" Lilith inquired.

"There is."

Lilith gave a short nod, smiling. "Bring them in." As Minion rushed off, Lilith turned and gave Zelda a pointed stare before ascending the steps of the balcony and taking her place on the throne, overlooking the entire chamber.

Zelda, knowing well enough what was intended of her and finding herself uncomfortable reminded of her time with Faustus, stood beside the throne, behind it with her hands clasped before her.

Lilith turned to ensure she was correctly placed but made no comment as a group of demons were lead into the room. Most of them appeared as lesser demons, but one of looked almost like a cherub with short wings and round cheeks.

"Your Grace," the demon said, giving a short bow that Zelda could only assume was a mockery of Lilith's position. When he rose, his eyes went to Zelda's and then returned to Lilith's, quietly awaiting introduction.

"Valac," Lilith greeted politely. "What tidings do you bring from the fourth circle?"

"No tidings, Your Grace, only a request."

"What is it that you're after today?"

"There are rumours, Your Grace, that the Queen has placed a hold on all deals."

"This is correct. The Queen has also requested to review each deal before collection - I'm sure I sent a messenger to all the circle to announce this, so tell me what you're really after."

"I'm to be summoned and commanded but unable to trade what is owed. Twice now, I've forgone investments that would have otherwise been invaluable."

"Oh, well, that seems your concern alone," Lilith said. "The Queen was very clear about no new souls being bargained for, but any other deals you wish to make, say a promissory note from the client, would not be unreasonable."

"A promissory note?" Valac hissed. The demons around him echoed the hissing, mimicking the anger. "What worth is a promissory note to me. I have all the treasures I could want, or do you forget Demon Monther?"

"Use your imagination," Lilith said, tilting her head with a tight smile. "If you can't make use of the situation, then you'll lose out while others are finalising their contracts. Why Beleth was only here the other day claiming a whole new collection of soul coins he'd had transferred, perhaps you should speak with the second circle to see how their managing?"

The demon looked unhappy, his face going red with anger, but the creature submitted and bowed low. "Of course, Your Grace," he said, before kicking at the lesser demons and leading them out of the chamber.

Lilith sighed, reclining in the chair as she looked over at Zelda, her eyes washed over Zelda's expression, seeming to pick up on the curiosity. "Beleth needs to be reminded of his place. When Valac goes to war against him over his deals, Beleth will likely lose half of his land and coin, leaving them both weakened."

"How long until they realise that you caused it," Zelda asked. "Afterall, Beleth is not known for his dimwittedness."

Lilith turned and eyed her, her brow raised before she nodded. "By that time, little Sabrina should have finished her second quest, and they'll be too busy arguing amongst themselves over who should rule."

The throne rooms doors opened again, and a new set of lesser demons emerged as the attendants to a mid-level demon. Zelda resigned back to stand by the throne and listened as they went through a similar procedure as with Valac. Then a next set was brought in and on and on it went. Occasionally Lilith would comment on between the guests, but more often than not she sat proudly in the throne, awaiting the next patrician.

Sometimes the demons brought news from the levels about battles raging and wars amongst different realms (it seemed unsurprising to Zelda that both the Seelie and Unseelie courts had 'borrowed' soldiers from Hell in exchange for new souls to be brought into the pits, there also seemed a curious exchange of succubi and incubi amongst the courts that Lilith was irritated by).

Othertimes the demons brought requests. There was land in barter amongst the different circles as Kings rose and fell; mid-level demons were looking to ascend to higher levels, and ruined lords came with tithes owed to the Queen utilising soul coins, which Zelda assumed could only be what it sounded like. 

When a particularly overdue tithe had been paid, Lilith had Minion bring the coins to her to count after the demon left with a low bow and humbled apologies.

"Slaughter him," Lilith said while tapping through the coins, "and ensure that Ronove takes his land without fuss."

"Of course, Your Grace," Minion said with a humble bow.

The coins appeared iron in nature, imprinted with an infernal design, but as Zelda craned her head towards it, she felt the oily presence of dark magic. More so, she could swear muffled cries were coming from the coins. She drew closer and then the box was snapped shut. Lilith looked up at her with a sharp smile. "I wouldn't get closer if I were you.."

"I take it Sabrina has no idea towards Hell's currency."

"Of course not, could you imagine her trying to upheaval the very foundation of Hell? No, best we wait until she's finished 'intro to economy'."

Zelda rolled her eyes, "Sabrina will not be attending a mortal college."

"Are you certain of that?"

Zelda faltered and stepped back into her place as the doors opened again, and a new set of patricians entered. Zelda felt her feet begin to ache. How much longer would they have to listen to the demons whine––she was exhausted by it, and she wasn't the one answering them.

In truth, Lilith managed the Demon Princes efficiently, listening and picking at their words so that when they provided half-truths, she extrapolated the remaining parts that were left unsaid.

Over the different court tidings, it became apparent that her overall technique was to guide the Kings to do what she wanted by telling them no, then allow them to throw a tantrum before they ran off to disobey like teenagers, inadvertently doing the very thing she wanted them to do.

There were a few that required more delicate manipulations: gentle words and half-said implications leading them to their own conclusion, but otherwise, it was a more direct approach.

When the last prince had left, declaring war against the seventh circle kings, Lilith had waved him off and smiled with far too many teeth for Zelda's likening.

"Why would you want him to do that?" Zelda asked.

"They're equally matched, either they'll slaughter one another or one will survive with a half kingdom ripe for the taking." Lilith turned and looked at Zelda. "I have to amuse myself some way amongst all this."

"It seems that you're mostly setting war against the different circles."

"War is profitable if done correctly," Lilith said, pushing off from her throne. Zelda suspected there was deeper reasoning to it but didn't inquire any further.

Following Lilith, they exited through a hall, into a dark chamber, lit by a single, large fireplace. The room felt stuffy and overheated, but Lilith moved to sit in an armchair by the fire and ease into the leather cushions.

Zelda looked over the room. There was a single bookcase with hefty tomes the size of her head that took up the entirety of one wall. She drifted over to it to inspect when her wrist was caught in Lilith's vice-like grip.

"I wouldn't touch them if I were you. They have a habit of biting back if you don't handle them correctly." Lilith let go of her wrist and then seemed to ease back in the chair as if she was preparing to nap.

Zelda drew away from the bookcase and instead moved to sit down in the armchair across from Lilith. "Is that all for your day?"

"You think all I do is tirelessly listen to the rabble complain?" Lilith asked.

"I have no idea what you actually do. I assume there's some bureaucratic component as well."

"Yes, well, Hell does ever so love a good useless meeting. The paperwork is almost as infuriatingly overcomplicated as Baxter High's had been."

"You actually worked while you were at Baxter High?"

Lilith's eyes seemed to flash, almost as if she was considering what Zelda's head would look like on a spike. "What, you think they would have allowed me to ascend to that position if I wasn't competent? Of course, I did the paperwork, and far better than whatshisface had."

"What's next for you, then?"

"Afternoon tea," Lilith said. "And then a discussion with the council."

* * *

Afternoon tea seemed just to mean wine, cheese and grapes, which Zelda didn't mind at all. She had a goblet of wine (a decent bottle, but by no means a celebratory one) and allowed herself some of the biscuits and cheese.

The cheese had been commendable with a sharp bite, but the biscuits were stale, which was when Lilith had reminded her that the food in Hell would never be fresh. Zelda had had her share of delicacies around the world and had tried most things that wouldn't immediately poison her, so stale crackers and sharp cheese were the least of her concerns.

The meeting, however, was excessively dull. Lilith sat her on her left-hand side (as a show of honour) but made no introductions towards her, and when the Kings had prompted the comment, Lilith had stared at them as if they'd lost their head before she moved back on topic towards the circles of Hell.

It seemed to make the kings only more interested in her, and more than once she felt one was reaching out towards her when Lilith would quickly snap their attention back to her with an outrageous comment that would send the Kings in a flurry of arguments.

Having attended her fair share of faculty meetings at the Academy before Sabrina had come into her life, as well as after, she was somewhat competent at presenting a curious expression at the discussions when all she wanted to do was roll her eyes every time one of the King's spoke.

Honestly, she had thought Faustus could hold a monologue, but he had nothing against these kings.

By the end of the meeting, Zelda couldn't tell what had been discussed but gathered that nothing had come from it aside from half-written minutes being ratified.

When the Kings had left, Lilith looked rather pleased with herself, which Zelda couldn't understand. All the Kings had done was talk in circles, make strawmen arguments against one another and declare that Caliban would soon rule and at least be competent where Lilith was not (though Zelda seriously doubted this, the little she heard of Caliban, the more she thought that he would fall within a week and leave the Nine Circles crumbling in his wake).

"Please tell me that was the last of it."

"For another day, at least," Lilith said as Minion brought out new goblets and wine. Two lesser demons also stepped in and began placing food onto the table, though once they'd left, Lilith had grabbed at Zelda's wrist. "I wouldn't eat that if I were you," she warned. "But it is entirely up to you. I won't truly stop you."

Zelda looked down at the place and focused on it before the glamour shifted, and she saw what was really there. Maggots rolled over the food, and with the glamour lifted, so had the sweet smell of rotting vegetables.

"What is there to eat aside from cheese and fruits, then?"

"Honestly, nothing," Lilith said, taking a piece of fig and sticking it into her mouth. "Well, there's tea and alcohol, but I wouldn't use that to replace all of your meals."

"Tea, then," Zelda sighed, pushing away her plate.

"Minion!" Lilith summoned. Zelda closed her eyes, waiting to see if the ringing would stop in her ear. She was almost sure that the woman had done it to shock her intentionally. "Would you please make a fresh pot of tea for my priestess?"

"Of course, Your Grace," Minion said, before bowing upon his exit.

Zelda eyed his departure before turning to Lilith. "Was there any reason we couldn't have left our supposed relationship as Deity and High Priestess?"

"Yes," Lilith said, and then didn't elaborate.

Zelda felt her headache growing again. "Which is?"

Lilith popped a date into her mouth before reclining back into the dining chair and taking a slow, deliberate drink of wine as she maintained eye contact with Zelda. When at last, the goblet was placed back on the table, she looked at the witch with faux puzzlement, "what was your question again?"

Zelda closed her eyes, trying to remember why she shouldn't strike Lilith. Number one being that Lilith could snap her neck before she had time to do it. If she was honest with herself, a part of her believed that it was still worth an attempt.

Her eyes flew open as Minion set down a pot of tea, cup and saucer before her from a silver tray before then placing down a sugar bowl and receptacle of milk. "Thank you," she said.

Minion bowed before taking the silver tray back to wherever it had come from.

As he left, Lilith shot her a look. "What did we discuss?"

Zelda poured the tea, and place two cubes of sugar in it because, at this stage, she deserved something in her belly,“ and gave a look of innocence to the Regent.

"Something about concubines being an absurd role to play?"

Lilith placed a grape in her mouth before flicking her eyes away, apparently contemplating her desire to snap Zelda's neck, going by the tension in her jaw.

"If you can't hold your tongue, I will hold it myself," Lilith said when she looked back at her. There was a playful look about her, but Zelda could see the threat in the way her hand clutched at the fork a little too tightly.

"It was merely a sign of social propriety. I hardly think Hell is going to fall around us."

"Do you want to find out what happens if it does?"

Zelda brought the cup of tea to her mouth and just met the woman's stare with her own. If Lilith wanted to play at threats, she wasn't afraid to bite back. Neither of them knew how deep this bond ran, and she knew enough about bindings to go wrong that the death of one of them could mean the end of them both.

Zelda drank her tea with some enjoyment and was pleased when Lilith announced it was time for them to retire for the evening.

Heading back seemed a much shorter route, however, and with the passing of only a couple of doors, she found herself in Lilith's bed-chamber, the door closing behind them.

Relief at being out of room eased her shoulders and Zelda moved to remove the hair comb and then her dress, leaving herself in just the camisole she wore underneath.

Lilith, however, had moved to sit by the fire and was glowering low in her seat towards the flames.

As Zelda went to return the dress into the walk-in closet (that was massive) she realised far too late that she'd exceed the fifteen feet and found herself stumbling backwards as if her whole body had been elastic and just snapped back.

She looked back at Lilith and then, muttering to herself, draped the gown over the panelled partition.

"Is that how you hang your clothes?" Lilith asked, looking away from the fire. "I would expect that from a child."

"Well unless you're going to stand up and move closer, I can't put the dress away."

Lilith stared at her before muttering under her breath and pushing up from the chair.

Taking the dress, Zelda walked into the wardrobe and placed it carefully onto the hanger, knowing that Lilith would critique any wrong move, before putting it where she assumed it was meant to go.

Lilith huffed behind her and reached up to take the dress and moved it into an entirely different, but similar section. Zelda watched her before rolling her eyes. There was nothing visible about the distinct separation and knowing Lilith enough over the last day, she was half sure the woman did it to annoy her.

"Now that's done, can we sleep?"

"And just where do you think that you will be sleeping?" Lilith asked as she began spacing her clothes out like she was some Hell forsaken retail assistant trying to look busy. "Because I take the bed.”

“You can’t be serious. Where do you expect me to sleep?"

Lilith shrugged, smiling over her shoulder. "By the fire?" she suggested.

"Like a servant? Are we not meant to be playing some role of Concubine serving the Regent?"

"I thought you wanted just to play the High Priestess, Zelda. Have you changed your mind?" Lilith turned to face her then, and Zelda knew she was stepping into dangerous waters. "Or would you like to play a different sort of game?"

Zelda froze, uncertain if she should step towards the woman, or as far away as possible. Although the woman had intentionally changed her expression to look seductive, there was an edge to it, as if she was contemplating eating her rather than satisfying another base need.

Standing tall, Zelda schooled her expression and glared at acting Queen of Hell. "If someone's likely to come waltzing in your bedroom, we should at least be masquerading as having some type of close relationship."

Lilith stepped forward to her then, her smirk widening as she lifted a hand to play with the length of hair that draped over Zelda's shoulder. "And what type of close relationship were you hoping to masquerade as?"

Zelda snatched at the woman's wrist and stared at her until she let go of the copper curl. "Let me make this very clear. I have the coven worship you because it serves my role and because they need some type of stability after everything that happened with the Dark Lord. That does not mean I have to like you, especially after the trickery you enacted against Sabrina for the last nine months."

"And here I thought we were becoming friends," Lilith said dryly, pulling her wrist out of Zelda's grip and stepping back. "Fine, get into bed, I'll join you soon."

Zelda observed the woman, not dignifying her with a response before she turned away and headed out of the wardrobe. She didn't climb into bed straight away, instead, standing at the doorway until Lilith had emerged in an emerald dressing gown, her hair pulled over to one shoulder.

Then, they walked over to either side of the bed and stared at each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move as if they were in some kind of witch's duel.

Finally, Zelda gave in because the entire situation was absurd and she was exhausted and starving and had a million things to do at the Academy tomorrow.

Pulling the cover and sheets back, she climbed into the bed and watched as Lilith did the same. The witch then exhaled and all light but from the fireplace was extinguished, leaving the room in a dull orange glow.

"We'll head to the Mortuary first so that I can change, and then to the Academy."

"As you wish," Lilith hummed beside her.

"And you'll do as you promised? Not a word."

"I'll be on my very best behaviour."

 _It would have to do_ , Zelda thought to herself as she stared up at the canopy of the bed. She could see images of on old fable carved intricately in the would, looking almost alive as the firelight danced across it.

The bed was large enough that they could probably fit two people between them, and yet Zelda felt as if she could feel the woman's body almost grazing against hers. She closed her eyes and tried not to notice the small movements beside her as Lilith turned to her side.

And then, slowly, she felt herself sinking into sleep.


	2. Transmutation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You know, Zelda, if I'm to blend in here, you should treat me like any other student."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to start having some explicit violence with Lilith exercising her power in Hell against demons. Here be dragons.

As much as she would have preferred to sit down for breakfast, the two slices of toast and morning coffee would have to sustain her for now as she quickly packed her bags. Hilda had tried, but honestly, the things she packed were utterly useless.

Incense, Hilda? What ritual would she be casting in Hell that required _incense_?

Lilith leant against the bedroom doorway, eyebrow raised as she looked over the contents of her bag. "You know you won't need half of that.”

Zelda bit back a response. Placing more books into the bag before zipping it up. Lilith may have her fair share of books, but Zelda had notes in the text and would need them to work on sermons. Given that most of her time would be spent in Hell, she needed something to occupy her time, amongst grading papers and structuring education.

"Is that everything?" Lilith asked as she pushed off the doorway and began opening random drawers in her dresser.

"Stop that, and yes, I have everything."

"Are you sure?" Lilith asked, pulling open a drawer containing undergarments. "These look important, have you packed enough?"

Zelda walked over and forcefully shut the drawer, glaring at Lilith. "Will you stop fingering my undergarments! We need to get to the Academy before the students' classes begin."

Lilith held Zelda's glare as she opened another drawer and began rummaging in that one as well. "Are you sure you've brought everything? You know, you may make some mistakes while you're down there, so we should probably bring this with us," Lilith said, holding out Zelda's leather scourge in hand. Zelda felt a hot fury flash through her, causing her magic to bubble to the surface of her skin.

"Give me that," she snapped, grabbing the whip and yanking it from the woman's hands. "Where in Heaven did you get that from?” It shouldn’t have been easily found, given that she had _intentionally_ hidden it.

Lilith shrugged nonchalantly, her eyes once again roaming the room, likely looking for more secrets to discover as Zelda place the scourge back in her wardrobe on the top shelf. She wasn't sure how Lilith had managed to both find and present it to her, but she didn't have time to hide it from anyone else properly.

"Are you quite done?" Zelda asked as she picked up her bag.

Lilith looked away from the vanity set she'd been playing with and smiled at the woman, setting the comb and mirror down as she walked over to stand by Zelda. "Shall we?"

"I need to say goodbye to my family, given that apparently, I shall be seeing far less of them.”

Lilith nodded and gestured for Zelda to lead the way out of the bedroom and down the hall.

Zelda directed them downstairs to the breakfast table where Sabrina and Ambrose sat. All conversation ceased as they entered the room before Hilda walked over and placed another set of toast down for both women, this time with homemade blackberry jam. "Sit down. You've got enough time to finish your coffee before running off to the Academy."

Zelda sighed and reluctantly agreed.

Taking her place at the table, she flicked through the newspaper that had been laid out. The headline read of a political scandal, but nothing of worth. Flicking to the obituaries, she looked to see if there was anything worth having Hilda dig up. 

"So Aunty, what was it like staying a night in Hell?" Ambrose asked. “Magister Deniuem once wrote that it could infect your dreams."

Zelda looked up from a newspaper and took a sip of coffee. Beside her, she noticed Lilith was quite happily tearing off pieces of toast and popping the small segments into her mouth before licking the jam off her fingers. Wrinkling her nose, she looked away.

"Fine," she said. "I slept like a newborn."

"She didn't snore or kick around in the bed either. Quite the sound sleeper," Lilith added, popping another segment of toast in her mouth as if she had merely commented on the weather and not insulated something Zelda would have preferred to keep quiet.

"You're sharing a _bed_?" Sabrina asked. "Did you––?”

"No," Zelda said before Lilith could wind her niece up any further. "It's just subterfuge. If Hell knew what had occurred, they would immediately try to seize the throne, or at the very least, see this as a weakness and attempt to go to war against yourself."

Sabrina's face pressed as she drew deep into her thoughts, while Ambrose looked like he was trying to simultaneously hide his amusement and become acutely aware of the cereal in his bowl.

"Speaking of, Hilda are you able to take this afternoon classes. I should be able to return in the evening.”

"Yes, shouldn't be an issue," Hilda said as she sat herself down at the table. "I've requested time off from the store given everything that's occurred with the pagans," Hilda said with a giggle. “Doctor Cee has been so, _so_ lovely about it."

“Pagans. Here?” Lilith asked as she finished the last of the toast on her plate. “You need to eradicate them before they set their roots down.”

“That _was_ the plan,” Zelda said. “But as you can see, our coven is still dangerous weakened. The last thing we need is to declare war against a commune that vastly outnumbers us.”

“Pathetic,” Lilith scoffed, cleaning her fingers as she stared at Zelda. “They’re _pagans_. Most of their magic comes from a drop of divinity long lost to breeding into mortals. Even outnumbered, they should barely serve more than an annoyance.”

Zelda felt her cheeks burn, a growing tightness in her chest as she dropped the newspaper down onto the table. “I _beg your pardon_?”

“Beg all you like, Zelda. If you can’t defeat a few pagans, I truly worry for the state of my so-called coven. Perhaps I should deal with them myself?”

“If anyone is to deal with them, it should be _me_ ,” Zelda snapped. 

“And yet you’re not,” Lilith pointed out, “or were you hoping they would merely disappear if you glare hard enough?”

Hilda gave an uncomfortable squeak before turning to look at Zelda. “Hey now, there’s no need for that in the kitchen. How about we all settle down,” she said, as Zelda and Lilith continued to glare at each other. “Um, Zelds, how long until you find the little...um...cure to this little problem?"

Zelda felt the weight of exhaustion seep over her at the mention of it. "Ambrose?" she asked. "Did you look over the spell?"

Ambrose nodded. "I discussed with Sabrina the reversals you've tried to date. They're all that I would have tried if it were I in your position, Auntie. I'll head to the Academy's library today and try to dig further and see if anything like this has happened before. At the very least, we may be able to look at extending, the, erm, limitations you have.”

"Please be quick," she said, drawing her eyes back over her newspaper. While an extension wasn’t as preferable as a severing to the bond, it would certainly ease her mind somewhat.

She lifted the cup of tea to her lips, drawing her eyes to the clock that hung over the kitchen doorway before glancing to Lilith who seemed to be thriving in the uncomfortable air that laid over the kitchen. "We should discuss what we're going to say to the children about why you're there."

"I've taken a special interest in my flock, more hands-on?" Lilith suggested as she took a sip of her coffee. "Or I could just wear a glamour? I believe most of them recognise this face from Lucifer's little coronation ceremony, so it might do well to try and wear something new."

Zelda nodded. "A student would probably be easier; we could say you're from the old country and living with us for a time."

Lilith's form shifted, and then there was a young woman about Prudence’s age, with dark hair, brown skin and a round face sitting before her. She had even shifted her clothes to look more like Sabrina's, with a short corduroy skirt and a long-sleeved crop top.

Glamours usually took more ceremony with the process. Generally involving a charm of the person's belongings you were turning into or a mirror at the very least to alter the reflection, but she could taste the old magic in the air. This was what came from wandering the Earth over a few millennia.

Zelda turned to her niece. "She's not one of your school friends, is she?"

"No," Sabrina answered, but she looked unsettled. It was likely due to the fact the glamour was rather seamless, as far as glamours went. In lesser witches there was often something off about them, such as the skin looking too smooth, or usually, the mouth sitting a bit oddly, but Lilith's glamour was immaculate. She looked real.

It probably left the question of how many times had Lilith visited them all under some guise with none of them the wiser.

Rising from the table. Zelda sat her coffee cup down and wiped her fingers on a napkin. "Well, we can't call you Lilith, so what will we tell the others?"

"Mary's fine," Lilith said, her voice was warmer, sweeter with a Scottish lilt to it. _That_ was frightening.

"No!" Sabrina said. "You can't steal everything of hers. Did you know that she's having nightmares from what happened, and she doesn't even know why?"

Lilith laughed, "Is she, how truly terrible!"

"Can't you just choose some other more witchy name?” Sabrina's faced turned to Zelda’s with a pleading look. “Something like Agnes or Megaera, or something?”

Lilith too turned to look over at Zelda sweetly as she flicked her long dark hair over her shoulder. "Witches find the use of biblical names dearly ironic, it would not be so out of character, would it, _pet_?"

Zelda closed her eyes briefly, loathing the diminutive name. However, Lilith was right, and she advised Sabrina as such. “There’s nothing wrong with the name.”

“That’s not fair,” Sabrina said, sitting back in her chair. "Please, Aunt Zee. Ms Wardwell has had enough taken from her. She thinks she's going crazy!” Unsurprising, Zelda thought. She was hell-touched after all, by a hell-being, and therefore damned. 

"That may be, but the name Mary is not hers alone," she advised and immediately regretted it as Lilith grinned at her, not unlike a shark. 

The witch stood up and walked over to Zelda, standing before her. Zelda didn't mind her in this form. It would easier to just find her the petulant child that she was. “Whatever the name,” Lilith said, “I would draw attention anyway––at least this way the students' suspicions will be diverted,” she said, before taking an apple from the fruit bowl and placing it behind her back, smiling up at Zelda.

Zelda rolled her eyes before looking at Sabrina with an attempt of an apology. If Lilith wanted the name Mary, then so be it.

Sabrina glared at her as if she’d somehow been the cause of this. “This is _wrong_.”

“That may be, but it’s done. Now, shall I expect to see you in class, later?”

Sabrina shrugged, a petulant look on her expression as she eyed Lilith with mistrust. "I have cheer practise this afternoon."

Of course, she did. Zelda breathed out through her nose, wishing she had time to light a cigarette. "Shall we?" she said to Lilith as she picked up the bag she'd left by the table.

Lilith grinned, linking arms with her in a way that seemed _quite_ unlike her self and made Zelda all the more aware of how much the other witch was used to playing in new skins.

With a deliberate sigh, Zelda flicked her wrists and teleported both of them to her office in the Academy. At their arrival, however, the woman's hands gripped at her arm tightly.

Zelda wrenched away from the linked arms and stared at Lilith. "What are you trying to do?"

Lilith turned to her, an odd look on her face. "Lucifer's here?" she asked in a whisper, her voice void of all mischievousness for once. "You brought me to where you're keeping him?"

"He's locked up in the dungeons."

Lilith stepped around the room, fiddling with the apple she brought with her. "He'll likely know I'm here," she said to herself, the apple spinning over and over in her hands. "What Acheron are you keeping him in now?"

"Faustus."

There, Lilith laughed, but her expression paled again. "Damascus steel?"

"Of course."

"Heptagram?"

" _Yes_ , believe me, we've taken all precautions."

"You know it's only time before he escapes," she said, turning to face Zelda before her expression shifted. “We’ll need a plan if we’re to survive.” 

“Lilith he’s chained––at the very least, for now, he’s safe.”

Zelda watched as the girl (because she really did look very young and small all of a sudden) set the apple aside and brought her hands together. the expression shifting again to something playful and gone was whatever trepidation Lilith had. "We should discuss our relationship: student-teacher, I presume, or perhaps something more familiar? Last chance for you to resume as my concubine on Earth as it is in Hell?"

"The flirtation is far less endearing with that glamour," Zelda pointed out. "Try not to make a scene when you're in the class. I have enough problems as it is."

" _Of course_ ," Lilith said in such a way Zelda could feel that she was going to make a scene deliberately.

Zelda placed her bag down, by her desk and then went to her drawers, pulling out her day planner to shuffle through (she had another she kept on her person, but this one she kept at her desk) before rummaging through her lesson planner. Up first was transmutation, previously held by Artemisia Vines, but with the limited witches left, it remained on Zelda's shoulders like most of the classes.

"Do not undermine me," she warned towards Lilith. "Or I will personally make it my mission to make court life as difficult for you."

Lilith smiled at her, smoothing down her skirt. "I'll be a model student," she promised. “After all, I’m _quite_ intrigued by the student’s aptitude.” 

A knock sounded on her office door. Closing the drawer of her desk, she looked up and saw the faint image of Prudence.

"Come in," she called and watched as Prudence pushed the door open, stepping inside.

"Directrix Spellman," Prudence said, surprised. "Sabrina mentioned you were unwell."

"I'm fine, as you can see, Prudence."

Prudence opened her mouth and then closed it, before offering a shrug of her shoulders. "Would you like me to begin the class with chapter thirteen?"

"Please. I'll be with them soon."

Prudence nodded and went to shut the door before noticing the other girl in the room. Her eyes dragged over the figure curiously before shifting to look back at Zelda with an inquisitive raise of her brow.

"Family, from the old country," Zelda said in half explanation, gesturing loosely.

Prudence frowned but didn't argue, "of course," she said and closed the office door behind her. No doubt she would be looking to follow-up with Ambrose about that later. But if her nephew were smart, he would lead her to the answer without directly saying it.

Zelda took a moment to compose her self and ensure she had what she needed for the lesson before grabbing a spare textbook and handing it to Lilith. "Try to avoid talking to the other students. Try not to talk altogether if you can help it."

Lilith began thumbing through the textbook, ignoring her. If Zelda were lucky, it would keep her entertained for the rest of the class.

She led Lilith down to the classroom and had her sit in the seat usually reserved for Sabrina. Lilith sat down in her chair, back straight and began pouring through the textbook. Zelda sat a pen and pieces of paper on her desk, because she expected it of everyone, and began drawing upon the chalkboard as the class quietly read Chapter Thirteen.

The class’s eyes drew curiously over Lilith, but aside from a few shared looks, they kept to themselves. Good. It allowed her to focus on drawing up the blackboard without worrying about the class.

Prudence remained at her station at the front of the class, and Lilith had to admit she was quite proud of the girl. Despite everything that had happened over the last year, Prudence had made a sharp turn around and was flourishing in not just her witching abilities, but her leadership capabilities as well. Perhaps one day, she would even formally ask Zelda to be her mentor.

Stepping back from the board, she looked over the class. She caught a few staring blankly and another stifling a yawn.

Her eyes went to Lilith. The witch was sitting at the desk, pouring over the textbook with such fascination that Zelda could almost be fooled in thinking she wasn't paying attention to the class.

"Who can tell me the three basic principles of transmutation?"

Melvin raised his hand, as always in an eased effort to prove himself. "Ah, the first is 'Knowing', you can't turn an object into something you don't have a basic understanding of. Mass, you can only change something into equal or less than its original weight, but never more and ah..." he trailed off and his shoulders sunk.

"Very good, anyone else?" Zelda asked, pouring her eyes over the class. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Lilith’s eyes draw up from the textbook, watching the students with curiosity.

As no student raised their hand, Lilith sat back in the chair and began drumming her nails, as if deciding her coven's worth.

"Agatha, what's the third principle?" Zelda asked, snapping to look over the girl.

Agatha looked up from the book she had clearly not been reading and fumbled, "Oh, um. Colour?"

"Colour?" she returned, and the girl only stared up at her, fiddling with one of her plaits. "Have you completed transmutation before?"

"Yes, Directrix."

"And what did you transform?"

Agatha looked to Dorcas for help, before pulling back and sitting up straighter. "I changed a rock into a fish."

"And how did you do that?"

"With magic?" Agatha asked.

Zelda rolled her eyes and walked over to Agatha, picking up her pen. "If I turn this into a rock, what would I need to do?"

"Magic it."

"Yes, obviously I would use magic, but _how_ would I do it?"

"Will it, I guess?"

"Correct. To turn this pencil," Zelda closed her hand and felt it shift into a smooth pebble the size of her thumbnail, "into a rock I would just have to will it. But what if I wanted to turn the pencil into a fish?"

"You would need an incantation?" Agatha twisted her plait tighter. "Maybe chalk to outline a fish?"

"So why would I only need to will it into an inanimate object, but to change it to a living thing, I would need an incantation or a ritual?"

Agatha opened her mouth, staring at the pencil and then sat back in her seat, looking lost. Zelda turned, looking over to the other students, but if they knew anything, they kept quiet. Zelda held her tongue, trying not to grow frustrated with them. This was fundamental transmutation, but either their education was lacking, or they were unwilling to offer answers that they already knew.

"Prudence?" she summoned.

"It's because you're changing something inanimate to animate. When you speak, you're summoning, which then pulls on deeper magics to create life. The larger the object, or the more complex the living thing, the more advanced the ritual required to summon the energy required."

"Thank you, Prudence." She set the rock down, returning to its original form on Agatha's desk and went over to the chalkboard writing up three of the principles. "If you know these principles, you can eventually learn to transform anything into something else, so as long as you have enough creativity."

She led the class through theory, briefly revising rhyming couplets for precise transformation and then had them stand up and turn their desks into a badger and back into desks. Only two students were successful, with the remaining fumbling over their dictation and causing one form of malformation or another instead, making the process of turning it back to a table far more difficult––which was what Zelda’s had hoped for.

There was more to be learnt in mistakes than there were with correct actions.

At the end of class, Zelda advised them that their homework was to transform an inanimate object into an animal and then back, as well as five hundred words as to what the causes of malformation were (generally dictation, half-rhymes or just lack of confidence).

When the students left, Zelda turned to Lilith, who was quietly sitting at her desk. Zelda had not called upon her to demonstrate, partially because she felt uncomfortable with that dynamic (only because Lilith would likely seek her revenge later), and partly because she knew the witch would be able to do it without a verbal incantation, which would only serve to make the other students feel worse in their abilities.

"You know, Zelda, if I'm to blend in here, you should treat me like any other student."

"As if you could blend in."

Lilith snapped her textbook shut and rose from the desk. Despite the youthful features, there was something there, something dark in the way she moved and held her expression that warned of a more significant threat, and then features smoothed and she was just another student.

It was unsettling.

"Is it lunchtime?" Lilith inquired.

"It is."

Zelda led them both back to her office where a tray had already been set with lunch (likely Hilda had run off before she had to collide paths with Lilith again). Usually, Zelda would run most of the classes, with things like botany and potions being held by Hilda who continued to hold expertise over her, and the remaining extracurricular classes taught by the skeleton staff.

As it was, Hilda had agreed to take the afternoon classes so that she could return to Hell with Lilith and complete the court and council meetings (that she honestly couldn't see the point of, at least here she was growing young minds).

Lilith took a seat on the edge of her desk and picked at the sandwiches Hilda had set aside for them and began flicking through the textbook, writing notes in the margins. Her legs were crossed, but Zelda watched at her foot bounced playfully. Again, it unsettled Zelda how easily the woman was able to dive into her new role. But she pressed the anxiety from her and focused on using her office time to adjust her planner going forward.

Usually, the lunch hour was also reserved for students to speak privately to her if they so needed, but more often than not, it was a quiet time.

It was foolish to think she could fit anything further than a few hours of the evenings in Hell to dedicate to marking, but if she had to spend her time in the throne room mentally planning her lessons and sermons, then so be it.

A knock sounded at her office as she was mid-way through replanning Wednesday. Looking up, she noticed Melvin standing at her door, sheepishly looking at Lilith.

"H-hello Directrix Spellman. I'd wondered if you'd had time to review the extra-credit I submitted for Conjuring?"

Zelda placed her pen down and watched as the boy curiously flicked his eyes to Lilith, who was still happily sipping at tea and making notes in the textbook. From the few words that Zelda could read, Lilith wasn't writing in any modern language.

"The extra-credit you submitted on Monday? No, I haven't had time to review it, Melvin."

"Oh," he said, though he didn't look entirely dejected. "Um, you never introduced us to..." he trailed off and gestured to Lilith.

Lilith looked up from the textbook and briefly glanced at the boy before sharing an unimpressed look with Zelda.

"This is my cousin's granddaughter, Mary," Zelda said. "She'll be staying with us for a while."

"At the Academy?" he asked with far too much hope. Zelda couldn't help but feel some pity with him. Had Lilith been able to wander the grounds on her own, no doubt she would have devoured him, quite literally.

"With me," she clarified. "Was there something else you were after, Melvin?"

"I know how confusing the school can be, so I thought I might check if Mary needed any help getting used to the classes, or-"

"She's quite fine."

Melvin paled and stood up straight. "Of course. Um, thank you, Directrix," he said rather awkwardly before backing out of the office.

Lilith took another sandwich. "You know you should eat. You won't get a chance in Hell." 

Zelda snatched at a sandwich and sat back in her chair. They would need to leave soon. She had hoped to run into Hilda before they left, but she would, no doubt, see her in the evening after classes.

"What if I brought food to Hell."

"Wouldn't work," Lilith reminded her, before pausing and looking up from her textbook. "Maybe canned food?"

Zelda waved the thought away. Canned food was for mortals who didn't have time outside of their tedious office work.

Maybe she would have something cured.

The day went by fast, and before long, she found herself in Hell again. This time, Lilith’s transportation was gentler. She admired the mark on Zelda’s neck as she undressed, and then chose an appropriate outfit for them both, before leading them to the throne room.

It was to be a long day, Zelda realised once the first Demon entered with his gaggle of under demons and began speaking the longest monologue Zelda had ever been disgraced with.

An hour must have past as she shifted her feet, trying to ease the ache growing in her back from standing so tall behind the throne. It didn't help that the dress Lilith had chosen for her today was heavier than the previous one, and also required Zelda to wear stays underneath it. 

It wasn't that it was laced too tightly, but it was starting to pinch under her arms, and she couldn't shift until the current demon left the throne room, but going by his current rant, she expected they were only halfway through his problems.

Zelda glance to her right, noticing that even Lilith was looking exhausted by this. Her lips were drawn back in a near snarl for the demon to _just get to the fucking point_. (He was from the sixth circle, and they tended to talk around in circles, likely due to their more frequent dealings with politicians and mortal priests).

"-which as you can understand is completely unacceptable. For one, we don't even deal with that kind down there. As you know, we deal with a far more _elite_ kind of persons, though they tend to be a bit chatty and––” Zelda pushed her tongue to the back of her teeth, stifling the yawn before it could show on her face.

During the current court session, Zelda had already finished the outline of her sermon and ran over three more times to be sure it was memorised for when she had a spare moment to write it down.

"Enough!" Lilith snapped.

Zelda turned to face her. The woman was snarling now as she rose to her feet. Perhaps she’d misjudged the expression.

"Are you telling me that you've promised ten thousand of _our_ souls to some backwater realm that no one worships any more?"

The demon slunk backwards a step, before remembering himself. The gaggle of lesser demons at his feet crept behind his shadow to cower from the Mother of Demons. “My lady, if you'd-"

"What did they provide, Sabnock? What do you lack in Hell?”

"They provided old secrets in turn."

"Secrets?" Lilith hissed, raising her brow. "What secrets did they have that were worth ten thousand souls?"

Zelda watched as his large chest swelled up as he stood tall. "The contract was made, and so it must be kept."

"Was is agreed to by the Dark Lord?" Lilith asked as she stepped forward, to the front of the dais, "or did you come to the decision thinking of how pleased He might be, only to realise that you'd been swindled and it might be best if you withheld the truth until they came to collect?"

The demon was quiet, standing tall but Zelda could see his tail flicking underneath his coat. "The deal was made after the Dark Lord left to the Earthen plane."

"I see." Lilith had gone still in a way that reminded Zelda of a snake waiting to strike. The silence remained, uncomfortably long, and then the demon stepped backwards, looking as though he was about to cast a spell. He had only drawn a single breath when Lilith flicked her wrist.

A steel spike split from the ceiling, striking down through the demon's throat and pinning him to the ground where he twitched like a fly that had had its wings removed. The lesser demons began to scatter, but as they did, Lilith flicked both hands this time, and they all fell at once with a horrible cracking noise.

Zelda recoiled at the sudden impact, her mouth parting in horror. 

A tightness tugged at her, and Zelda realised she’d been too focused on the creature to notice Lilith’s descent down the stairs. The woman paused on the last stair, waiting for her to move.

Zelda quickly followed Lilith, descending the steps with her as she walked over to the Demon Prince and watched him squirm as ichor ran down the spike. Lilith’s heels were sharp on the marble floor, and Zelda felt her heart in her throat with each step as they grew closer and closer to the twitching demon. He was alive, but for how long?

Lilith sneered at him, "You've disappointed me. I should burn your kingdom to ashes for this."

The demon convulsed, a strange sound garbled through his throat, but whatever he was trying to say was lost against the steel spike.

Lilith made a disgusted noised before she stepped back and walked away, through to a set of double doors. Zelda followed after her, though she would prefer to be far away from the witch after witnessing what she had. 

The gallery they walked through was terrifying, with strange creatures heads mounted to the walls and a carpet the squelched underneath her feet. Lilith led the way with a particular stiffness in her spine that kept Zelda silent, unwilling to voice her concern. She knew of Lilith’s power, had read about it, had _witnessed it_ when the woman had bound Lucifer still.

But to see it like that was another thing entirely. 

They pushed through a set of doors into a hall, crossing straight across to a simple wooden door that led into a circular stairway, dimly lit by torches on the wall.

Zelda wanted to demand where they were going, but she didn't know what the woman would do if she said anything, and right now, it was all Zelda could do to focus on descending.

The steps were damp and smelled of mildew and brimstone. Lilith's descent was sure and fast, but Zelda wasn't, she felt that at any moment she would slip and tumble down the stairs horribly and as such kept a hand on the cold wall as her other tried to hold her skirts up high enough that each step didn't trip over the material.

There was a tugging sensation again, and Lilith stopped on the stairs, her shoulders tense.

"Ten thousand souls," she hissed in the darkness. "What fool gives away ten thousand souls for _secrets_?" She turned to look up at Zelda as if only realising that she was there. "I wouldn't breathe a word of this ordeal to anyone, including your _dear_ niece if you want to live."

"Hell is in no short supply of souls. Why is this such a concern?”

"It's not about the number of souls. It's that a deal was made without sanction. " Lilith raked a hand across her stomach and leant back again wall, suddenly looking very tired. "If Sabrina loses, there will be no haven on Hell or Earth," she said.

"Sabrina won't lose,"

Lilith turned, looking at Zelda. "Even if she wins, they won't accept her. She will need to break them into submission, likely go to war against them to quell whatever revolt comes out of this. And your niece may be powerful, but she is not ruthless enough to win a war against Hell. When I ruled, they didn’t _nearly_ have enough votes to depose me, but it only took _days_ to go against her.”

Zelda agreed, despite the fact it made her stomach twist uncomfortably at what that meant.

Sabrina had always been tenderhearted in a way witches rarely were. She was stubborn, insubordinate and proud, all traits that Zelda admired even when she found herself furious with the girl, but Sabrina's defining belief was that life was precious and worth preserving. No, Lilith was right, she wouldn't win a war against demons.

Maybe in a hundred years or so, Sabrina would grow to understand that not all life was created equally, but for now, she was just a teenager.

"Then you'll be ruthless for her," Zelda stated firmly. "You'll be her left hand, and when they fear you, they'll follow her."

"Fear me?" Lilith laughed before she began to ascend the stairs to stand in front of Zelda. "Don't you see? They don't fear me. They don't even _respect_ me."

"So make them, was that not what you were doing before?"

Lilith shrugged. "I mean, what's the point? When little Sabrina ascends the throne and Caliban fails, they'll slaughter her and select some new prince to sit the throne until they grow bored of that one and on-and-on it'll go for the next millennia."

"Surely-"

"There's no 'surely' about it!” Zelda felt her back hit the wall as the woman pressed her hands onto the bodice of her dress, pressing her to the wall. "Maybe you and I will escape to the fae and hide out the rest of our lives there, bonded for all eternity. Or maybe you and I will just be the appetiser to their Feast of Feasts of dear, roasted Morningstar.” The woman’s face turned almost comically feral as she leant in. “I’ve heard that getting the eye whole is meant to provide wisdom." 

Zelda felt her anger rise as she pushed the hands from her waist. "This is not some joke––!”

"No, it's not a joke or a game or whatever your niece thought when she decided on a whim to take the throne, and yet here we are, in Hell with a child deciding to _spruce_ _up_ a place with no understanding of its inhabitants while I try to soothe the masses who are close to deciding that there shouldn't be a throne in the first place."

Lilith's face shifted, revealing bone-deep exhaustion that hadn't been present in her face before. It cut at the edges of her eyes and sunk her shoulders, and with it, Zelda realised the truth.

"You did this for the Dark Lord."

"Well, he was never very much into paperwork, but he was able to frighten them all on his own. He could be terrifying when he wanted to."

"And the other times?" Zelda inquired.

Lilith looked away, a dark look on her eyes as she drew back from Zelda. "I did what was necessary, but don't get the wrong idea; Lucifer was still very much the driving force in that. With Sabrina's current cheerleading demeanour, she won't even make the Kings nervous about consequences."

"We need to do something."

"As it is, I'll need to lay some waste to Sabnock's land to teach them a lesson." There was a growl to her voice, and Zelda licked her lips, nervous at the idea of what that would mean.

"Is that where you're leading us?"

Lilith didn't answer her, only brushed past her on the stairs and continued to head down the endless stairwell.

"What of the kings, are you not meant to be meeting them soon?"

"I'm sure they'll get the message," Lilith answered over her shoulder.


	3. to Lay Waste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How many souls of mortals and witch kind alike were burning because the First Woman needed to exercise her power?

Sabnock's land was a small city filled with tall, stone towers that raised up to fifty feet in the air. In the centre of the city, there was a single ivory spire that raised hundreds of feet, high above the other buildings, puncturing through the burnt orange skies until it was hidden by the haze of pollution that rolled through the streets like fog.

The city was filled with lesser demons and familiars that crept away into the shadows, likely knowing what Lilith had arrived to do. There were a few human souls that leant against buildings like beggars, but otherwise, the only souls Zelda saw were the ones building new towers and scaffolding, mixed amongst the lesser demons that worked.

Given that they resided in the eight circles, Zelda surmised that likely a lot of the occupants were those who'd committed building fraud one way or another, probably causing the death of human life while trying to line their pockets.

"What are we–?”

"Do you enjoy your tongue, pet?" Lilith asked as she looked over her shoulder.

Zelda withheld her words, feeling them burn in her throat as she pressed her lips shut. This _was_ her world, she supposed, no matter how much Zelda would enjoy pushing her into any lava pit they came across, she would obey her for the moment. 

Lilith walked with purpose down the city streets and Zelda watched as demons and souls alike turned curiously before running away, seeming to dart across the road or turn into buildings. It brought an obvious pleasure to the Regent, who stood tall, back straight and a gleaming look in her eyes as she considered what she wanted to do.

Then, they stopped outside of a building site. It wasn’t unlike a mortal building site, with scaffolding and a great number of men walking around, carrying wood, metal and stone as they hurried around the site. Though there was far less machinery than the mortal realm.

Lilith stopped outside of its gates and gave a great whistle, summoning their attention. “I need to speak to Grinhilda,” she said, her void booming across the site. The creatures looked at once another, and then a tall, thin demon with grey skin and long white hair stepped forward, clipboard in hand.

“Yes?” the demon asked. 

Lilith’s eyes narrowed, unimpressed by the greeting. “Choose five.”

“Five _what_?”

Lilith’s grin widened. “Choose. Five,” she said again. Zelda swallowed, looking to Lilith with interest. Grinhilda stepped back, and snapped her fingers, speaking in an ancient tongue and summoning five demons. They scurried up, moving to stand in a line and Lilith’s eyes ran over them before she stepped forward and circled the five. With a wave of her hand, the demons were banished and Lilith paused, looking at Grinhilda with an inclined look, like a cat playing with a mouse. “That’s all,” she said.

Grinhilda scowled, returning to the worksite as she began snapping and yelling at the men.

Zelda turned and looked at Lilith curiously, questions pulling inside of her. _Why_ five, what had she wanted them for? Why had she come here? And then Zelda watched as Lilith’s hands rose into the area, a great summoning of magic pulling from her before her fingers clenched into fists and all at once, the scaffolding and the surrounding area became alight with blue flames as it suddenly roared to life.

It was as if she’d doused the area with petroleum. There was a great _whoosh_ of magic expenditure that Zelda felt thrum from the woman, spilling over her as the fire burned and burned, the air turning thick with the stench of burning flesh and ichor as screams filled her ears. 

Nausea washed through Zelda as she watched it, knowing that Hellfire was strong enough to burn a soul to nothing, utterly destroying them.

How many souls of mortals and witch kind alike were burning because the First Woman needed to exercise her power?

Zelda turned to face Lilith and watched as laughter spilt across her face as she watched the flames begin to spread, dancing from the worksite to nearby buildings, spilling amongst the town until the flame was pressing all around them, trapping them in the streets as demons and souls ran, screaming, unable to exit. Buildings collapsed, the roads melted and Zelda watched as the ivory tower splintered before cracking all together, crumbling across the city with a great roar. 

Finally, Lilith seemed to finish with her laugh as she flicked her wrists, transporting them back to Pandaemonium. 

The halls were silent and yet Zelda could still hear the crackling fires and great screams of souls. 

Feeling her stomach clench, she turned away. Was this what was expected of Sabrina? To be ruthless and burn an entire city to dust because a demon _dared_ to create a contract out of line.

Of course, it was. This was how you maintained power. Zelda pressed her lips together, feeling a shiver run across her. 

She’d witnessed her fair amount of power before, watching city’s burn, but it was unnerving to witness Lilith’s mad glee in the sight of power. 

Lilith gave a small chuckle to herself, brushing ash from her dress as she walked down the hall, pushing open a set of doors to what appeared to be a gallery, filled with art and sculpture. In the centre of the room, stood the five demons.

“Your brethren are dead,” Lilith informed them casually. “If you wish to remain alike and unburnt by the fires of Hell, I suggest you go to the Barons of the eighth circle and beg them for mercy.”

The demons cowered, pressing against each other like kicked puppies. Zelda almost felt sorry for them as she watched them scramble at one another, their large eyes looking away from Lilith as she circled around them, eyeing them with interest as if she was considering burning them too.

“What do you say to your kind Regent for sparing you?”

“Thank you,” they said, their words spitting out in hisses. 

“Our Queen is very wise, she’ll be reviewing their contracts soon. I expect them all to be received within the fortnight,” Lilith said. “Do tell the Barons I said so.”

And then the demons were scrambling out of the room, and there was the sound of squeals and yelps as they thundered down the halls, seeming to knock into the walls, knocking paintings and sculptures.

Lilith sighed at their departure, and whatever gleeful look she had sagged as she turned to Zelda. “Don’t fill pity for them. Their inbred mongrels. I doubt that they’ll all make it to the barons. All the pity.”

“Then why send them at all?”

Lilith grinned then, and it was all teeth and cold eyes. “Because even if only one arrives, five left here. Their stories will shift and the barons will fight over each other, looking to claim the burnt land as their own.”

“So this was all for war and chaos? On top of an exercise of power.”

Lilith drew in a tight breath, before exhaling in a flare of dramatics. “Unless you want dear Sabrina doing it herself,” she said. “She did once summon Hell Fire, but I wondered how she’d handle it down here. It tends to be a bit…slippery when it’s so close to the source.”

Zelda averted her gaze, remembering the flush of power that had hummed through her. Truthfully, she’d always known Lilith exercised a degree of power––she’d been Lucifer’s right hand and despite what the demon kings and princes thought, there was no way she survived being so favoured _only_ as a result of being his concubine.

But the influenced power was terrifying. Lilith could wield a wildfire in her hands, what else could she do? Summon a tsunami? 

_Hold the Devil himself,_ she reminded herself. Something Lucifer had proclaimed that no one could do.

The thought was terrifying. 

“Chin up,” Lilith said, “We have a business yet to complete, do we not?”

Zelda looked away, feeling the question roll through her. What business could they possibly have left to do, after all of that?

The answer was to return to the throne room where Sabnock remained. He’d withered in the spikes, ichor running down on the floors, eyes beadily moving around as Lilith grinned. “Did you feel that?” she asked. “An entire city alive and burning––how much did you lose, I wonder?”

“ _‘ease_ ,” he begged, jaw unhinged, “‘ease, I ‘an––“

“I don’t care,” Lilith said tightly. “You see, I’ve just cut out your heart. All of that power, all of that land is gone now. I imagine one of the nearby barons…or maybe the marquis will come _swooping_ in and snatch up that piece for themselves, and then you, dear Sabnock, will be nothing more than a husk. No land, no souls, _nothing_. You’ll wither and die.”

The creature shuddered and Zelda looked away, unable to stomach watching it. She’d prefer if Lilith just put it out of its misery or let it go, none of this playing with your food. 

There was another tug, and Zelda’s gaze turned to Lilith watching as the woman stood tall and strong, fury building in her. The creature began to scream against the spike, as he withered and dried up. A high pitched gurgling wail that had Zelda pressing her hands to ears.

And then it stopped.

And Zelda watched as Lilith swayed, the remnants of magic coursing through her as she turned on her heel to leave.

Zelda quickly stepped up behind her, though she made the mistake of glancing back had the dried-up husk of a demon.

“Minion!” Lilith summoned, her voice bellowing through the walls.

There was silence, and then the sound of panted breath as he pushed the door open, and quickly bowed before her. “Yes, mistress?”

“Have _that_ cleaned up,” she said, waving a loose hand over to where the body was. Lilith seemed to sigh then, exiting from the room to enter into the grand dining room, and took her seat at the head of the table, before the fire.

Zelda watched as she leant back in the chair, eyes falling shut and disgust pushing at her. “A Regent’s duty is never done,” she said dryly to the room. Zelda doubted that Lilith was speaking to her, and doubted even more than the woman was even away of her presence.

It seemed dangerous to make her way any further into the room, but she watched as Lilith’s head lolled, coming to look at her before she smiled and looked away. “At least someone’s afraid of me,” she murmured.

Zelda huffed, crossing her arms under her chest. “I’m not _afraid_ of you, despite how impressive that was. Though none of your courtiers were around to see it.”

“You were,” Lilith reminded her, “But no, can’t have demons knowing I can do that. Makes them _twitchy_.” She frowned then, adjusting in her seat before a look of delight came to her face, “But I could show you how to do it. Or summon hellfire.”

Zelda felt an agreement rise in her chest before she snuffed it out. “I can’t raise Hellfire. Only a few of us ever managed to do it.”

“Sabrina had,” Lilith reminded, her grin widening.

“Perhaps if I still had the Dark Lord’s magic—“

“Come here,” Lilith said.

“Pardon?”

“Come…here…” she said and nodded to the spare seat. Zelda rolled her shoulders back, unease settling in her as she made her way from the doorway, up to the seat of the left hand. There, she placed her hands on her lap and watched as Lilith slid her hands across the table to her.

Zelda lifted her own hands, and before she could change her mind, Lilith had them in a grip. She touched over the lines of Zelda’s hand, running her fingers across the palms before she looked up at Zelda with interest. “The Dark Lord would have us think that we’re vessels. That there’s finite magic that we carry, and then his boosts us, but it’s not true.” Her nail pressed against her wrist and as Zelda yelped to pull back, she held on firmer.

“What are you doing?” Zelda snapped, trying to jerk her wrist away as she watched the nail dig into wrist until blood began to pour around it, over her wrist and onto the table. 

“See _that_ is what inside of you. Not magic. But blood and innards and all of that. I’ve torn many a witch and a human apart, and you want to know what I found?”

Zelda’s hand shook as she bit her tongue, trying to hold back the pain shaking through her, Lilith’s hand was unrelenting, pressing firmer. 

“Use your words.”

“ _Nothing_ ,” Zelda hissed. “You found _nothing_.” She already knew that mortal and witch internal organs were the same.

“Do you know why that is?”

“Let go of my wrist!”

“It’s because despite what you think, all of you descended from Eve. You’re all daughters of Eve, just like the humans. Except, well, you don’t come from _Adam_ and that’s where all of that…curse came from,” Zelda said. “It’s why childbearing is still so very difficult for you, but you know all of this, don’t you?”

The nail was digging in harder and Zelda was biting back her, yes, still trying to tug herself away. Yes, she knew, she knew that all but Lilith descended from Eve. She knew that the reason witches had magic was because they'd been shown how to use it by Lilith, who took pity on them out in the wilds. She knew it all and yet she didn’t understand why the woman wouldn’t just _let go_.

“Uh!” Lilith warned, and then her thumb lifted, hand still holding her firmly. Zelda watched as Lilith licked her other thumb and then pressed it over the wound, the energy flickering over her. “There, all better,” she said.

Zelda ripped her hand away, brushing the dried blood from her wrist. “What kind of a psychopath are you?”

“I was making a point,” Lilith said, looking rather bored. “The magic isn’t a finite amount buried inside of you. Well, except maybe Sabrina, she’s divine born. Children of gods and celestial beings tend to have a spark inside of them. You can taste it.”

Zelda eyed her with concerns, not liking what was insinuated there. “But witches aren’t divine born.”

“Oh no, your pagans are. Muddied as their blood is, there’s still a spark. Witches are more like…lightning rods. Magic gets conducted through them, and some have greater capacity than others to catch that. But it can be taught.”

“And what does this have to do with summoning Hellfire?” Zelda asked. As she wiped the blood away, she noted that the injury was gone, healed by Lilith with no more than her saliva. It only added to her discomfort.

“I can teach you how to hollow yourself out if you wanted a greater capacity. There are all sorts of gooey areas you can conduct magic through, allowing it to flow through you as easily as lightning through metal.” She reached out then, and Zelda was too slow to flinch away as she grabbed her wrist.

Magic poured through her, slipping over her nerves and shuddering down her spine. It was enough that Zelda closed her eyes, lips parting open before she remembered herself and snatched her wrist away, glaring at the woman. “Stop that!” she demanded.

“Did you want magic?”

Zelda sniffed, turning away. “Is that really a good idea after the binding spell?”

“No,” Lilith shrugged. “But does it really matter?”

Zelda looked away. She knew she was a competent witch, and yet to be taught by Lilith would offer her more. “Why would you do it?”

“You’re my High Priestess, if you’re to emulate me then I will have you able to perform magic at a respected level.”

Zelda rolled her eyes but didn’t refuse. She was still angry with the woman, and despite the healed puncture mark, Zelda could still feel the raw skin that Lilith had formed on her wrist. “If the day is done here, could I please return to the coven? I have Black Mass to prepare for.”

“Of course,” Lilith said, nodding her head. 

* * *

Lilith sat on the pew, drawing her hair over one shoulder as she eyed the crowd. Zelda had not been lying when she said that only a few remained from Blackwood’s involvement. As she shifted on the pew, looking across the young faces, it became apparent that the eldest witch who remained may, in fact, be Zelda––not including the hedge witches in the area of course. But they were not yet apart of this coven. 

Zelda droned on about unity against adversity, or some hopeful speech, pulling a story from the Satanic Bible that was no more true than her current glamour.

Lilith turned in her seat, feeling eyes press against the back of her again, only to note that Prudence was sitting beside the male Spellman, eyes narrowing at her before she turned away and glared forward, listening politely to the Matriarch Spellman speak.

 _Ah_ , Lilith realised. Prudence was likely newly aware as to her involvement and was either unsettled by it, or completely objecting to it. 

She had requested no one else speak it to another soul, so it seemed that she would have to remove tongues. Reaching into the pocket of her dress, she pulled out a piece of twine and looped it prominently. And then, when Prudence’s eyes turned to hers, she gave a tug and watched as the woman broke out in a coughing fit.

Satisfied, she turned back to the front and watched as Zelda glared down at her, but continued pontificating nonetheless. Boring. If this was what Mass was to look like in her name, she wasn’t impressed. There should be stories of her follies and successes, a sacrifice, maybe an orgy, not some snivelling monk’s retelling of the middle-eastern witches.

She felt two sets of eyes burn on the back of her head and grinned nonetheless. When she turned, tossing a wink, she watched Prudence’s glare grow hot, while Ambrose’s falter, confused. 

At last, Zelda drew an end to the discussion and dismissed the coven. Lilith remained where she was, feet bouncing as she watched as all of the Spellmans and one Ms Blackwood, ascend on her at once.

“What did you do?” Zelda asked.

She looked up at Zelda innocently, smiling her best smile. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Prudence opened her mouth to speak, but only a raw noise came out. _Terrible_. 

“ _Mary_ ,” Zelda hissed. “You promised,” she reminded.

Lilith felt a flutter at the name and turned, looking around her. “As did you,” she reminded. “Am I to presume that Ms Blackwood is not aware of the predicament.”

“I––“ Ambrose began, but Lilith held up a hand, silencing him. She didn’t actually care. 

“Promises were broken, and words need to be silenced, lest the Coven become aware of how fragile their Directrix has become,” she gave a pointed stare to Zelda, reminding her of their earlier conversations. Just because this wasn’t her domain, didn’t mean that she couldn’t spot danger. Lilith had watched Coven's rise and fall in her thousands of years on Earth and In Hell. She’d brought many down herself, and it always began with a spark––whispering doubt in the ear of the followers until they no longer trusted their leader.

Zelda crossed her arms, rolling her eyes as she was fond to do and the male Spellman spluttered out a few words, before Hilda cleared her throat, directing attention to her. “How about instead of all this, we settle down over a cup of tea and––“

“Hilda,” Zelda snapped. “We hardly have time for any such luxury. No, the children must be shooed to bed and then we shall return to Hell. Ambrose, you’d mentioned earlier that you had found something.”

“I have,” he agreed. “However there are a few ingredients I’ll require.”

“Share with me the list,” Lilith said, “and I’ll have minion fetch the ingredient.” 

Ambrose gave her an odd look, but when Lilith’s eyebrows rose higher, he relented, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a small, folded list before handing it over.

Lilith gave it a once over she flicked her hands and watched as the paper disappeared. Minion would receive it and know what her intentions were. She expected the ingredients would likely be received by tomorrow morning.

Leaning against the back of the pew, she gave an active yawn and looked around at the Spellmans. Sabrina was notably absent from Mass, but so had been the warlock who she’d kept as a pet for some time. No doubt, Sabrina had informed him as well as to what had occurred, and the boy was cowardly keeping out of her sight. 

“Shall we?” Lilith asked, looking to Zelda. “I have things to do before we go to bed.”

She watched as a lovely blush heated the woman’s cheeks at the mention of it. Her mouth pressing into a firm line. “We need to say our prayers to the children, but yes.”

At the mention of prayer, Lilith perked up. She’d noted that the Mass had been notably absent of such things and was looking forward to hearing them again. Zelda gave her a dark look, but she lead the way out of the church. Lilith pushed off from the pew, giving a wink to Ambrose before she placed her hands behind her back, as she’d seen Sabrina do before, and skipped her way to Zelda’s side.

She noted the way the woman glared out at the darkness, as she led her on the path back to the main building of the school, a glower in her face. 

“Will you undo the curse on Prudence?”

Lilith made a humming noise, pretending to consider it. “No,” she decided. “It’ll fade on its own by morning, but it will teach the girl some respect her deity.”

Zelda made a low noise as if she was going to disagree with the fact that Lilith was their deity, but she thought better of it, holding her tongue. _Good girl_ , Lilith thought, smirking to herself.

As they stepped into the Academy’s ground again, Lilith felt the oily presence of Lucifer wash over her. She knew that he was as acutely aware of her as she was of him, and was probably quite curious as to why she was moving about the upper levels, refusing to come to see him. Well, he could wonder all he liked, she had no desire to see him again. 

“Perhaps it would be best if you…remained in the hall while I do this,” Zelda said. “It may raise more questions as to why you’re present but not sleeping in the same room as them.”

“As you prefer,” Lilith shrugged. She lent against the stonework by the door and watched as the woman entered. Lilith listened to her speak to the children, offering words of comfort before a brief silence held. And then, the prayer began.

Lilith closed her eyes, feeling the prayers wash over her. The words of the flock shifting through her, invigorating her. Once upon a time, there had been a time when she’d had hundreds to thousands of followers, praying to her nightly. But now, all she had was a single coven. The words filtered through to her, a yearning in their hearts as they repeated Zelda’s following, and Lilith drew her head to look up at the ceiling.

Lucifer would not be pleased with listening to them. His rage would topple buildings, and because of that, there was a small piece of satisfaction in knowing that she was the cause of his anger.

And then the prayers faded away, and the world was quiet once more. 

When Zelda exited the room, her expression was tight, before she gave a nod, as if to signal that she was done. Lilith stepped closer to her and then transported them both back to her Chambers in Hell. It’d been a long day, but she watched as Zelda’s expression furrowed, a worry present that Lilith hadn’t noticed so egregious as before. 

“Yes?” she asked as she led them to her closet, to change for the evening. 

“I didn’t say anything,” Zelda said and Lilith paused, turning on her heel to glare at her. Dropping the glamour, she began undoing her dress, watching as Zelda stared off into some far corner, her mind going elsewhere.

“You should inform them of the truth,” Lilith said, as she pulled the dress down her arms and then down her waist, stepping out of her heels. Zelda made a noise of muted disagreement before she shook her head.

“I can’t, they’ve lost so much.”

“And when they inevitably find out the truth, they will feel betrayed that their own Priestess didn’t inform them of the truth,” Lilith pointed out. “Or do you think you would have happily accepted it if Faustus had paternalistically done the same?”

Zelda scoffed, “I’m not trying to––“

“You are,” Lilith said. “And the longer you do it, the more discord will be sown. If you want to build the coven you so desire, _build it_.”

“And what do _you_ know of building covens.”

At that, Lilith turned on her heel, glaring at the woman. “What do I know? I’ve raised and corrupted covens before your grandmothers were even born.”

Zelda swallowed, looking away. “I will…consider it.”

Lilith could see that the woman’s eyes were glaring unhappily, likely displeased in seeing agreement with her. Fixing her sleepwear, she drew the pins from her hair and set them down one-by-one as she watched Zelda shuffle to her own bag, pulling out her clothes.

The woman undressed and dressed quickly, before pulling out a bag of different creams that had Lilith rolling her eyes. Honestly, the concern women these days had with looking youthful was exhausting. Shifting away from the dresser, she left Zelda to do her evening ritual as she poured herself a drink.

She flickered her attention briefly to Zelda before drawing away, scoffing into her drink. And then Lilith heard a voice whisper in the darkness. A prayer from a young voice. “ _Protect me from the nightmares_.” Lilith felt the words of prayer shift through her, the young voice whispering it low, under her breath. 

Closing her eyes, she traced the thread of magic from the request to its voice, feeling the shaking creature whimper in her sheets. 

Her eyes opened in the incorporeal form as she set herself on the end of the bed and watched the girl gasp. 

The room was quiet, the children trying to sleep, though Lilith could see two forms whispering under their sheets on the other side of the room.

But here was the small, young frame of a girl. _Elspeth_ , she recalled from the class. Her eyes went wide as she gasped, recoiling away. 

“Go to sleep,” Lilith whispered. And then she reached out and pressed her fingertips against the girl’s forehead. She could feel the magic shift, and then Elspeth’s face slackened, relaxation drifting over her as she dropped her head back against the pillow, falling asleep.

Lilith blinked, and then she was in her body again, sipping at her drink as Zelda cast her a strange look in the mirror. “Was I boring you?” Zelda inquired sharply.

Lilith’s eyes narrowed. She hadn’t noticed the woman was in the midst of conversation when she departed but supposed that she likely had been. The woman had a thousand things to say. “Yes,” she answered, and turned away, walking out of the dresser to lean against the wall, as far as the spell would allow. 

She could hear the eldest Spellman hissing under her breath, but Lilith refrained from listening, feeling the expenditure of magic haze over her. The girl would sleep well for tonight at least, but the nightmares would return while the Dark Lord was present in those halls. She needed to do something about that, for her own sake and the covens. 

However, first, she needed to see if she could use this binding situation to her advantage.

Finally, Zelda finished her ritual, her cheeks still stained red with the anger growing underneath her skin. “Careful, you’ll spike your blood pressure,” Lilith said, amused as Zelda’s face only grew all the redder as a result. 

“Why do you insist on being such a pain?”

“Why do you insist on being such an uptight cunt?”

Zelda’s mouth parted open, a gasp forming as she actively seemed to consider hitting her. If only. She’d love to see the Eldest Spellman lose control, but watched as instead, the woman’s hands curled at her sides, nails likely digging into her palms as she bit back her fury. 

Lilith laughed. It was far too easy to wind her up and after the day she had, it was a welcome relief to watch how easily she could press the woman’s buttons. 

“Come now, the first lesson,” she said, and then she was setting her glass down and taking Zelda’s hands in hers. The woman snatched her hands away and Lilith gave a sigh. “I promise there’ll be no bodily harm in this one.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m showing you how to do something,” she said, laying her hands out flat between them. Zelda stared at her, unrelenting. “I won’t bite.”

“And yet history says otherwise.”

Lilith smirked and blinked once, smiling innocently. “Come on,” she purred, “tell me you’re not curious as to what I could show you.”

Zelda’s eyes flicked to the hands, before she relented, laying her palms on top of Lilith’s. 

“Good. Now, I need to close your eyes and focus on your magic. Feel it sift through to your hands.”

Zelda gave a huff, shifting her weight on her feet but she closed her eyes nonetheless and seemed to give some attempt to try it. 

Lilith felt the magic flicker, like static energy in their hands. “Focus, feel the magic pull down your palms,” she said as she slowly drew her hands away under Zelda’s, drawing them over the other side. The energy flickered underneath her fingertips, against Zelda’s hands––she was a quick learner, which would make the next part easier. “Now imagine the magic is feeding into each other. One side to the other and back.” A brief spark of light formed.

Excellent.

Lilith grabbed Zelda’s wrists and then closed her eyes, putting herself through the feed of magic until Zelda’s magic was drawing from one to the other, feeding into her own. Briefly, for a moment, she felt Zelda’s emotions brush against her own. Surprise and fear washed against her, and behind that, there was a brush of something unfamiliar before it was buried back and only anger formed as the woman began to push against her.

 _Not yet_ , she whispered, holding tighter. The magic grew and expanded, feeding between them and then Zelda’s hands snapped free of her grasp, gasping as she rubbed at her wrists. 

Almost, but it was enough to test a theory to know Zelda would be sufficient enough if the time required it. 

“What in––“ she paused, apparently realising the name she wanted to use in vain was right before her. “What do you think you were doing?”

Lilith sighed, turning away from her. “Trying to see if I could use you as an anchor,” she said, looking down at her hands as she felt the kinetic energy fizzle against her fingers, dying off. She stretched them, disposing of the last of the magic.

“An anchor, why would you need an anchor?”

“I have my reasons,” she said, and then, before Zelda could go into some lecture or another, she walked away, climbing into bed. She could hear the woman’s thoughts from across the room before she padded barefoot to the bed and slid underneath the sheets. Likely, Zelda was running through a list of spells she knew that would require an anchor, unlikely to get to the heart of the issue.

“You’ll need to take some time off next week,” Lilith said, as she dimmed the lights in the room. 

“Why and when?”

“A fae delegate is arriving to pay their tithe, and I’m afraid that it will require our full attention, lest we come off as inhospitable.”

There was a pause. And then, “When?”

“Tuesday.”

“I’ll speak to Hilda.”

The woman remained pensive, and Lilith settled in the darkness, watching the firelight dance around her. It’s light was a welcome relief from utter darkness, allowing her to peak at Zelda as her brow furrowed in thought. If she wanted to, she could slip into the shadows, drift away until there was no part of her being, but she saw no need. She was tired and expected that there would be an assassination attempt tonight. 

If there were, she expected it to be from the lower rings of Hell. 

“Lilith?” Zelda asked.

Lilith hummed her acknowledgement of hearing the question.

“What if Lucifer escapes while we’re down here.”

“He won’t harm the children. They’re young and easy to manipulate. It’s your sister you should be concerned about,” Lilith advised, before rolling to her side. She smiled to herself, feeling the tension thicken in the room as Zelda’s thoughts likely darkened.

It was true, what she said, however. Children could be taught new tricks. Hilda was old enough to know better, far along in her lengthened lifespan gifted from Lucifer that he would likely decide to snuff it out if she stood before him. 

“We need to remove him from the coven,” Zelda said out loud beside her.

Lilith ignored the statement. She was tired and had done enough. 


	4. Basilisk Hatchling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know…” she said, her voice lowering as she shifted closer. “There’s a reason why shared magic often involves other forms of transference.”

Zelda awoke in the dark, feeling something kick her. Opening her eyes, she turned in the bed and came face-to-face with a quivering red creature, it’s mouth opened, squealing as a dagger was dug in its windpipe.

She snapped away, falling from the bed as her hands lifted to summon a spell––until she noticed Lilith.

Straddling the creature, her hand on the hilt of the dagger, in all of her glory, was the Regent of Hell. Zelda went to raise her hands again before Lilith shook her head dismissively. “He’s dead,” she said, twisting the handle before she pulled the dagger free and rammed it through the creature’s eye.

It squelched, and Zelda paled at the sight, watching as an emerald ichor spilt across the bed and began to burn the sheets with an acrid stink. Lilith grinned, feral energy growing in her as a hiss escaped the creature’s body.

“What _is_ that?”

“An assassin,” Lilith said before she slid off the body. She gave a soft sigh, as if disappointed, before summoning a handkerchief in her hand. Wiping her hands clean, she stepped back and looked to the open door. “Minion!” she called out, her voice booming through the halls.

There was a pause and then a scurrying sound before Minion appeared at the bedroom door, bowing low as he caught his breath. “Mistress?” he asked, lifting his head up.

“Minion,” she softened, smiling at him fondly. “Can you set up the guest chambers before cleaning up this mess? I suspect we’ll need a new mattress.”

His eyes drew to the creature before he nodded, “Of course, Mistress,” he agreed and then bowed lowed, exiting the room.

Lilith yawned and then drew her hands through her hair, combing it back from her face. “While he does that, I need to find out how that thing breached the perimeter.”

Zelda blinked, feeling the exhaustion pulled at her. She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but it was hardly enough as she followed Lilith out of the bedroom into the main sitting room. There, Lilith slunk around the room, checking over her wards and fixing the hole that had been sliced in the bedroom’s wards. It was small enough for a creature to scurry through unnoticed but would have required some time and attention. 

As Lilith waved her hand, flicking her fingers, the hearth roared to life with a strong fire. And then she moved before it, settling down with her legs crossed, back straight. She gave a pause to Zelda as if to confirm she was there and then closed her eyes.

Magic sparked, the fire expanding with it, and Zelda sighed, moving to where the lounge was and settled herself down on its seat to wait. Lilith may not have asked her, but it was plain to be seen that she expected her to watch over her while she apparently looked at the overall wards.

Zelda paused, leaning back as she looked over the room, her eyes drawing over the artwork, to the door, and the rugs on the floor. Everything was done up nicely, but it still felt bare…impersonal in a way that was like the room had been designed by someone else.

The most personal thing she’d come across was Lilith’s wardrobe. There, she felt as if she could see glimpses of her. But here, it felt like the room held a presence over her. 

She paused, feeling her skin prick, and then she turned back to face Lilith. The woman’s expression was smooth, completely in a trance, but the room felt thick, and as Zelda drew in a breath, tasting cinnamon on her tongue, she realised why.

The room was saturated with magic. Lilith summoned the depths of magic into her, stoking it, and Zelda could feel her own responding.

Zelda had, of course, in the past, completed ceremonies that involved the giving and receiving of magic. One particular ceremony involved a group of witches holding hands and passing magic from one to the other, piling their own to it, until the final person drank it in its entirely.

Zelda had never been the final person to receive the magic, but she’d been the second last. It’d been intoxicating, feeling all of the magic build and grow with her own before she sent it across. 

But this…this felt more intense. It was as if the magic was drawing into her and funnelling out.

She closed her eyes, feeling the magic drunkenly wash over her until it became almost unbearable as it seemed to entirely draw through her until everything felt like magic. Her skin, her hair, her organs––it ran through her blood until it felt like _she_ was magic.

She closed her eyes, feeling as if she was going supernova, squeezing her eyes shut. “Lilith––“ she said. “Lilith, enough, I don’t know what you’re doing, but…” she swayed and reached with her hands to grasp at the seat of the couch, digging into to ensure she felt real, was still a corporeal being in Hell.

“Lilith!” she tried again.

There was an expanse, and the feeling washed away as she felt a wind blow the summoned magic away. 

She exhaled, feeling her heartbeat slow again as her body sagged against the lounge.

Before her, Lilith’s eyes opened by the fire as she lifted her head up, rolling her shoulders. “I’m not sure of how that creature got in, but there’s another problem I need to see to.”

“And minion can’t see to it?”

“He’s cleaning up,” she said, rising to her feet. “And no, he can’t. He doesn’t have that capacity for magic. If he did, he wouldn’t be nearly as loyal.” Lilith rose to her feet, and then before Zelda could so much as inquire as to where they would need to go, the woman’s hand grasped at hers, teleporting them away in a rush of flames and… _petals_?

That was new.

They arrived in a forest, and Zelda exhaled, feeling cool air fill her lungs. Her bare feet pressed against loose stone as she looked around into the dim light. “Where are we?”

“By Lethe,” Lilith advised as she looked around them. It looked like a grove, given the flat grass around the trees and the lack of debris. “No one should be able to get in here but me. So I’m curious as to why the ward here has been penetrated.”

“Is that how the creature got in?”

“Unlikely,” Lilith said. “But it’s possible.” 

Zelda followed as Lilith took them down a gravel path curling around the expanse of great, tall trees. The canopy up ahead was thick and dark, ceasing any light to come down, and yet there was enough light to show their path. 

The trees shifted, their branches rustling high above as, what sounded like a crow, called out from high above. Likely the place was a sort of home for familiars, though the forest felt strange to her. There was an oddness to it, not unlike the fact that there was a mass charm over everything, hiding something from plain view.

Zelda shivered, feeling the cold of the air brush over her skin. 

Music sounded, the gentle sound of a harp being strummed. She thought to enquire if someone lived here but held her tongue. There was something unnatural about the strumming, an enchanting element to it that was meant to lure unwary listeners.

“Do you hear the music?”

“I do. Keep your eyes out.”

Touching over her arms, Zelda cast a warming charm and followed Lilith, her bare feet stepping over the gravel until they reached a gap in the trees. 

There, a lone archway stood, its shifting veil slipping through the doorway as if a wind was blowing from the other side of the doorway to here. Across the archway’s frame were glowing markings––unfamiliar to anything Zelda had seen before. 

The harp strumming was coming from it the doorway, beautiful and soft as it seemed to draw them closer. It wasn’t human-made that Zelda knew. But it was hypnotising in its own right. Beyond the harp, she could almost hear a voice singing softly in a strange, familiar language. She stepped closer, barely aware of herself as she strained to hear the voice.

Beside her, Lilith paused, staring over the doorway, a grave look on her face. 

“What do the marking signify?”

“That it’s active, obviously,” Lilith snapped, her eyes flicking over it. “It shouldn’t be accessible.” She reached out, pressing her hand to the wood of the doorway and one-by-one, the engraving on the wood dimmed until the veil disappeared, and the doorway died. Leaving nothing but a wooden frame standing in a forest. 

Lilith frowned as she stepped back, her eyes tracing over it. 

“This doesn’t feel like Hell,” Zelda advised as she looked around. Her magic felt different here. It felt heavy inside of her. 

“It’s not,” Lilith advised, and she glanced briefly to Zelda before looking away. “It’s a pocket world.”

“But you said Lethe runs near it.”

Lilith glanced to her, eyebrows raising, “Which is why we should leave before its effects reach us.”

“What is this––?”

“None of your business,” Lilith snapped. “The only reason you’re here is because we’re bound. I have half a mind to remove your memories of this place, but…” she gritted her teeth, looking away. “I don’t know how this bond will affect any such enchantment, and I would rather _not_ experiment with a memory spell, to begin with.”

“As you wish,” Zelda responded shortly. Though it made her all the more suspicious of this place. Why did Lilith have a private grove, why was she only permitted to it, why was she so protective of it, why did Lethe run through it, and why did it have a doorway that seemingly had strange hard music coming through it.

“Did you fix the warding at least?” Zelda asked. 

“Yes,” Lilith responded shortly. “Now, if you don’t mind?” And then Lilith stepped forward, taking her hand. With a rush of fire and brimstone, they returned to Hell, into the parlour of Lilith’s chamber. There, Lilith stepped away, her expression dark as she moved to the fire and sat down before it again, closing her eyes as she returned to her meditation, likely checking that all the wards were sealed once again.

There was no strange magnetic pull of magic this time, and Zelda wondered if that had been caused by Lilith checking the wards last time or if it had something to do with that pocket universe. 

They returned to bed only a short while after Lilith was satisfied the wards were in order. Minion had set up the guest chambers for them both while he cleaned Lilith’s bedroom.

The bed was smaller than Lilith’s, though not so much that she felt pressed against the regent. Zelda laid down on the mattress, watching as Lilith slipped into the sheets and seemed to fall asleep on her side, her back to Zelda.

It took longer for Zelda to fall asleep, questions running through her head as the echo of the music and the singing drifted through her ears. She wondered if the grove was the Garden Lilith had been born in before dismissing the concept––the Garden created by the False God had been in the Mortal Realm. Nonetheless, it held significance, and Lilith’s secrecy showed that it was vulnerability, something that had been exposed by necessity.

She wouldn’t push yet, but nonetheless, filed the thought away for later. 

_____

Lilith shifted in the classroom seat. Minion had delivered the requested items that morning, and right now, they were waiting for the elixir to be brewed. She’d sent the basket of items to the male Spellman who had gone off to prepare it, advising anywhere between lunch and tomorrow. 

Now, Lilith was stuck listening to Zelda incorrectly teach the classroom about demon binding. 

Not that she cared at this stage. Though the book Zelda had provided was fascinating enough to run through and correct. Asmodeus was listed as one of the angels that had fallen with Lucifer. _Incorrect_ , he was a Nephilim. The angel that had been Asmodeus’ supposed mother died during birth, at the hands of Lucifer, who’d cut Asmodeus from the womb. The father had been human, insignificant—a fact she often liked to remind the Demon King.

The only reason he’d lived was because Lucifer wanted a protegé. Not all of the upper demons were Nephilim, but Asmodeus was, therefore a true encasement would need an adjustment. As such, Lilith took the pen that Zelda had provided her and adjusted the depicted binding symbol. 

She caught Zelda’s disapproving look before she turned away, continuing to guide the students. Overall her teachings were generally correct, and from the books Lilith could find, Zelda was going off knowledge passed down from warlocks and witches in their discoveries; it was just that many of these discoveries were incorrectly attributed to misaligned facts.

After all, it was common practice for a warlock to summon a demon and bind it, exchanging a gift for knowledge––it was just that demons were not bound to be entirely truthful. They could twist the information and be as vague as they liked, leaving warlocks to come to the wrong conclusion. 

And also, sometimes demons were wrong in the knowledge they had, too. 

No one ever asked _her_ opinion, though. Mother of Demons, First Woman, she had a wealth of knowledge that exceeded those of her children and the nephillim. But who was she in the grande scheme of things except Lucifer’s apparent whore.

She scoffed, scratching out a line in the text book. Her time would come. For now, she would play the part of regent until it no longer suited her. 

“Mary?” 

She looked up at Zelda and tilted her head. “Pardon?” She asked with a sanguine sweet voice, watching a twitch form in Zelda’s cheek as she tried to bite back a scowl. The class’ eyes turned to her, and Lilith tried to hold back the glee she had in vexing the eldest Spellman. 

From the corner of her eye, she could see Prudence distain, her fingers unconsciously touching at her throat as she kept her eyes on the book before her.

“Common boon you might provide a demon to exchange for knowledge?” Ah, right, she’d told Zelda to treat her like a student. 

“Depends on the circle and demon––but sex is common, food, knowledge of your own. Demons like to pretend they know everything, but if you give them something they don’t know that they can then use for power, they’ll fairly provide you knowledge in return.” She held Zelda’s eyes as she said it. “Personally, I would try to avoid knowledge unless you know its worth. Demons have little patience in being told things they already know or don’t care about and exercise their vengeance if you waste their time over nothing. They also aren’t above taking a bargain when they notice one.”

“The binding will keep them from doing anything,” a student advise. Melvin, if Lilith recalled correctly. “And then you can just banish them.”

“Of course. Because demons can only leave Hell when summoned,” she said dryly. 

“Well…no, but they need permission from the Dark Lord…don’t they? Or Lilith…who-who’s in charge of Hell…now. Right, Directrix?”

“You’re probably right; what do I know?” Lilith shrugged, returning to her work, though she flicked her eyes to watch as a pale look came over Zelda’s face. There, she saw the cogs turning in Zelda’s mind, the realisation that Sabrina was in charge of Hell, and so far, the demons weren’t looking to listen to her any more. They could come and go as they pleased, so as long as they believed that they were sneaky about it. 

“You are correct, Melvin,” Zelda said, directing the classes attention back to her. Likely not wanting to initiate panic, though it was evident in the way she fixed the cuffs of her jacket. 

There was a reason Lilith was inflicting terror and destruction on those who showed disrespect. She needed them to remember their place, her authority, and that breaching such statuses would result in severe punishment. Though she did enjoy inflicting the punishment. All those demons, who’d so quickly flung insults at her, as if she hadn’t birthed half of them? They needed to remember their place.

Lilith flicked through to the next page, writing notes in the margin, marking which moon was best to collect the ingredients listed. Thousands of generations and these witching children thought that new moon and full moon were all that mattered, as if other factors didn’t hold their own significance. The moon did more than affect the tides, and should they start paying more attention to how the luna flowers bloomed in the forest and what direction they faced, maybe they’d learn how to make less volatile spells. 

When class was dismissed, Lilith packed up her belongings and followed Zelda to her office to await the male Spellman.

Zelda’s jaw remained clenched as she took her place in a chair, opening up the provided Satanic Bible to flick through. It was a new experience to be on this side of the classroom, to have books and classes, to follow a schedule, though she mostly followed Zelda’s shadow, annoying her at every turn. 

As of this morning’s assembly, Zelda announced that she would be looking to bring in new educators, given their predicament, and would be reducing the classes for the moment. A small excuse for the fact that they were splitting their time between the mortal realm and Hell. It helped, at least, that the Satanic Covens around the Earth had pulled their children from entering the Academy of the Unseen Arts, though it was likely create future problems they’d need to rectify.

What had previously stood as _the_ educational institute was now seen to be cursed since Faustus Blackwood decide en masse murder was the preferred way to inflict his remaining hold on the coven.

“What did you mean by laying that _threat_ in the classroom?” Zelda snapped.

Lilith looked up from the Satanic Bible, turning to face Zelda. “Pardon?”

“You threatened to releas demons on us.”

“I did no such thing, merely _reminded you_ that previously they required the Dark Lord’s permission to leave, and now…they require the Queen’s.” Lilith watched as a mixture of fury and fear tore across Zelda’s expression. It stained her cheeks red and made the already pale skin look practically ivory in comparison. “Of course, the only reason they deferred to the Dark Lord was out of fear, but I’m sure Sabrina holds just as much sway.”

“Do _not_ threaten us! We don’t have the strength between the pagans and our lacking magic. As loathe as I am to admit it, we’d fail or significantly reduce our already dwindling numbers.”

“You could always rid of your problem with the pagans _before_ they become too powerful to remove from their land. They’ve…what? Been there a week or so, by now?”

Zelda gritted her teeth. “You know very well, we can’t. Even if they’re just deific through a single drop of blood, it makes them more powerful than us currently since this…bonding spell has failed to deliver what was promised.”

Lilith shrugged. “If only you knew someone unaffected by the draining magic, who had her own spells and enchantments and didn’t rely on the Dark Lord,” she said before glancing back at the bible. She hardly paid attention to the scripture, leaving her ears pricked to listen as Zelda seemed to debate with herself.

“And you’d do that for…what price?”

“No price. As your current deity it’s my duty to protect you. You only needed to ask,” she turned her head to look at Zelda. “I’ve been trying to hint at that since Sabrina dragged her feet into Hell begging for some quick-fix to this whole situation. Why else did you think I agreed to do this little binding?”

Zelda mouth parted, looking as if she was going to argue. Though Lilith noticed the stain on her cheeks was spilling down her jaw and throat. “I…thought you’d be like the Dark Lord. And after Sabrina stole your throne, I thought helping us would be the last thing you’d want to.”

“Yes, well. The throne is one thing, but your still _my_ coven. Not Sabrina’s…unless that’s to change?”

Zelda scoffed. “Absolutely not. Her head is filled enough.”

That, they could agree one. Lilith smiled, shifting in her seat to face Zelda properly. “Then I’ll help you with the pagans. We can review the problem of the demons later. Though…don’t mistake this for charity. It’s not. You’re _my_ coven, and there are some reforms I want to make to your worship. I’d rather _not_ be some cheap knock-off of the Dark Lord.”

Zelda gave a stiff nod, and to that, Lilith shifted back, relaxing in the chair as she continued to make notes in the bible. The eldest Spellman may not be comfortable with her worship just yet, but it didn’t mean that Lilith wouldn’t eventually be able to coax her into being the High Priestess worthy of looking after her. Worst case scenario, once this extension was in place, Lilith would be able to have more roam of the school and be able to get to know her flock better, and by extension, move to moulding one of them as her new high priestess.

Perhaps Dorcas or Agatha, so she could see the outrage on Prudence’s face once more.

A knock sounded, and Lilith ignored it as she busied herself with her notes. She’d been half the creation behind the Satanic Bible, moulding it with the Dark Lord as the perfect balance between truth and propaganda. Now, she just needed to remember what parts of her own story had been true and what was misleading.

“Come in, Ambrose.”

“Aunty,” he said, entering, and Lilith could feel his eyes nervously flick to her. Even in the guise of the young woman, masking her voice with a Scottish lilt, the male Spellman remained nervous. Good boy. “I’ve made up the potion...but you’ll need to bathe in it, preferably in a still water. It must be in a place where no light reaches it, and yes, that includes moonlight, and then you must remain there for an hour to allow it to soak the bond.”

Lilith looked to Zelda, watching the woman sigh. “Together, I’m to assume?”

Ambrose nodded.

“So be it. Well, we can black out the Spellman bathroom and––“

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lilith cut in. “It’d be far easier to do so in Hell.” 

Zelda paused, looking at her. There was a discomfort in her at the idea of doing such magic in an unfamiliar place, no doubt. As if Lilith cared for her comfort––they could go to all the work of blacking out the bathroom and possibly failing, or simply do the enchantment in a room that was seperate from all of that, and Lilith had just the place. 

The two Spellman’s continued to speak, going over the steps to secure the bond, before discussing current issues with the Dark Lord’s effects, the loss of magic and the growing concerns of the pagans, but none of them had any viable solutions just yet. The Dark Lord remained locked up in the dungeon. The loss of magic would likely remain for some time, and the pagans…well, that would be a problem for later.

“Why are we keeping the Dark Lord alive?” Zelda asked, loud enough to summon Lilith’s thoughts. “Why don’t we simply…find a means to permanently imprison him. Doesn’t Hell have dungeons more vast?”

“I’d prefer if he _wasn’t_ inflicting his influence over the demons given that we don’t have a strong oversight of him given both my position and our predicament.” She smiled sharply, teeth gritting as she looked Zelda and the male Spellman.

“I don’t mean to overstep,” the other Spellman said. 

“And yet you do,” Lilith advised, staring at him and watching as he shrunk back.

“Do we need him alive at all?”

To that, Lilith paused. She’d thought about killing him more than once over the years and had only found the confidence to attempt so earlier that year (only because she was able to deflect it onto _other_ ) and yet that had spectacularly failed. However, there was no need for the pretence of her loyalty any more. There was no way of her worming out of this one.

Perhaps a full-front attack was the next step. And yet, their last methods, their only hope, had been an Acheron flesh prison. Lucifer had advised there was only one thing in this world that could kill him.

She doubted that. Lilith was ancient, she’d seen gods die, and Lucifer was no god. He was crafted from the cosmos, which may make him _deific,_ but it did not make him a _god_. To be a god, you needed to trace your lineage back to Chaos. 

Perhaps there was another thing they could try. After all, there was no deadline this time. “Do you trust where he is to be safe?” She asked of Zelda.

“No,” Zelda said. “But I doubt there are safer places.”

That was certainly true. Anywhere else would be relying on another jailer and there were few as deeply afflicted by the Dark Lord as she and this coven were. “Let’s deal with your pagans first, and then we can discuss our options going forward. It’s possible we could hit two birds with one stone.” Already, a plan formed in Lilith’s mind to use the pagans, but she’d have to be careful. 

“As you say,” Zelda responded with a nod, her curiosity piqued though she held her tongue from pressing further. 

Lilith returned to the book, digging through its contents as she thought over their options. Option one was to use the pagans, but she doubted there was any real power there. It’d be better to find an object that could kill a god––if there was a weapon that could kill a god, or even maim one, she would be able to get her hands on it eventually. If she could just… _drain_ Lucifer of his power, at the very least, it would render him _utterly_ mortal. 

Her thoughts circled, though she kept them quiet.

Soon, it became time to return to Hell. Clothes were changed, and by this time, Lilith was having more and more fun in increasingly ridiculous outfits for Zelda whilst plainly stating that it was important they dressed a certain way lest anyone think Zelda as anything less than her concubine. Zelda’s face was unimpressed this time round, but the way the skirt pooled around her was enough of a distraction to detract from her severe disapproval.

Before they left her room, she summoned Minion and had him prepare the balneae before departing to her duties. 

Lilith’s own work involved a few meetings in preparation of the fey ambassador’s arrival and administrative duties in the absence of the Queen. Likely, the regalia hunt would continue soon, but there was little else they could do until it did. Lilith couldn’t be seen helping Sabrina, and it was clear from Sabrina’s expressions of a “make-over”, she didn’t actually _care_ about how the traditions and cultures that ran through Hell, so there was little point in advising her of the upcoming meeting.

Eventually, it became time that she and Zelda could separate long enough from courtly duties to slip away to private quarters. Which meant that they could at last complete the ritual that Ambrose had prepared. 

Lilith opened up access to the balneae and led Zelda into the room. It was a stone room, and the candles flickered, offering a dim light that reflected over the water.

“Do you have it?” She asked, looking at Zelda.

The woman pulled out the black bottle, setting it down on the side of the balneae. 

“I’ll ward if you wanted to get in first,” Lilith said, smiling politely as she stood back and stared at Zelda. The woman seemed to pause, her eyes narrowing before she shook her head and began undressing from the complicated dress, undoing the many laces and clasps. 

Lilith closed the door, feeling the wards snap into place before she turned to watched as Zelda placed the dress aside on a stone bench, moving to undo the corset. She paused as she went to remove her slip, turning to look over her shoulder at Lilith, likely feeling her gaze. 

She arched an eyebrow, an attempt to show some sense of boldness. “Enjoying the view?”

“I am,” Lilith said and smiled, staring unabashedly as she watched Zelda pause for a moment, her eyes looking away as the colour began to spill across her cheeks. Perhaps she hadn’t expected a bold response, or perhaps there were deeper feeling at play. Lilith didn’t care either away. The effect of making Zelda uncomfortable was enough satisfaction as the woman began to step into the bath, sinking up to her waist before she turned and faced her.

Lilith undressed easily. There was no complicated clasps or ties to undo. She removed the dress and corresponding undergarments and then stepped into the water, moving until she was waist high, standing across from Zelda. 

And then, once she saw Zelda’s hand on the bottle her nephew had provided her, Lilith closed her eyes, exhaling as one-by-one the candles in the room were snuffed out with the spell. The faint scent of smoke filling the room.

There, at last, there was peace, and then the bottle was uncapped and poured into the water. 

The magic hummed, rushing through her. It electrified across her exposed skin, and with it, Lilith found herself sinking into the water until she slid underneath its surface, submerging herself in its depths. It tingled and flickered against her magic, across her nerves, dancing over her scalp and down her body.

This was good magic, familiar kitchen witchery. 

She lifted her head from the water and sighed, feeling magic spark against her tongue.

“Ambrose…didn’t warn…” Zelda said, and her voice was thick, heavy with the feeling of magic rolling over her. It prickled over Lilith’s skin, growing low in the belly and up the base of her spine until she could feel it tingling up her neck, into her skull. 

Likely, Zelda felt what Lilith felt. Magic was pouring through them, drawing out of their skin and humming across the bond, and…

Lilith blinked, feeling her heartbeat thud in her chest, except it was almost like she could feel a ghost of a heart pounding over her own. Thudding faster as the water splashed around them.

Old magic. Lilith took a breath, drawing in a deep in her lungs as she felt Zelda exhale her own breath. She took another breath and then laughed. “Do you feel it?”

“Is this…am I feeling you?” Zelda asked.

“Yes,” she responded with a sigh, enjoying the sensation of the hum of vocal cords.

Before the emotions tugged through their bond,, there was a quiet, and Lilith could feel the wonderment pouring from Zelda. Awe unconfined by their magic thrumming between them. 

Lilith moved in the water, slipping through until her fingers brushed over the back of Zelda’s arm, down to her fingertips. “You know…” she said, her voice lowering as she shifted closer. “There’s a reason why shared magic often involves _other_ forms of transference.”

“Sex,” Zelda stated plainly, and there was a conflicted shift through their bond. “Lilith, there’s so much between us––“

“And if it was Lupercalia, and I chased you through the woods––would you refuse me?”

Zelda paused, her emotions shifting before there was a spark. “No,” she answered. “But in Lupercalia, we’re just witches. Equals.”

“And we’re equals here, are we not? Regent and Priestess, serving and leading in their respected positions.” Lifting Zelda’s hand, she pressed it against her breast and squeezed. She felt the sensation ripple across to Zelda and back, echoes of their touch spilling across one-another. She leant forward, feeling the conflict soften in Zelda, the arousal spilling between them. “We’ll never speak of it again if you wish. But I would very much like to…” and she trailed off, brushing her lips against Zelda’s before pulling away.

It was intoxicating, feeling the echo of what Zelda experienced. Even a kiss felt deeply intimate, exciting and thrilling in a new way. She leant forward again, only to feel Zelda’s anticipation quelled as the woman pulled back. “Like to…what?” She asked.

“Fuck you, Zelda Spellman. And I can tell you want fuck me. Or…at least be fucked by me.” Their emotions shifted, and it became difficult to tell where arousal began and ended as Lilith leant forward and kissed Zelda. She went gently at first, enjoying the echoes of their touch, her fingers sliding over her Zelda’s waist, and then that enjoyment turned hungry as they both began to grab at one another, exploring the feeling of nails down each other's back, teeth pressing into their skin as they indulged in one another’s sensory. 

Lilith bit hard against Zelda's shoulder and felt the nerve pulse in response, shooting down to her sex as Zelda gasped.

And then Lilith felt the water shift. Hand curling in Zelda’s hair, she tugged the woman’s head back and felt the excitement prickle down her spine (something she would file away for later to recall) as she felt the slithering of something awoken drawing into the bathwater. 

Zelda paused, her confusion turning to fear at the unknown. And then there was the shift of her wandering if _Lilith_ had caused this, before realising that no, she was just as confused and concerned about their new companion.

The creature was swimming in the water, blindly searching for them, and Lilith let go of Zelda carefully. She was without her dagger, but there was no doubting that another assassin had been sent.

Bladeless as she was, she was not without a weapon. 

She waited, feeling the move shift through the water and then Lilith grew. Underneath the Mary Wardwell skin, she felt her demon form shift and tug. Teeth sharpening, nails hardening. The air tasted different in her malformation. She could smell the stink of the creature as it slithered through the water.

And then, as it drew closer to Zelda, she lunged, nails digging in, her teeth piercing the wet flesh. The creature screamed as she bit down, tearing it asunder as it splashed through the water, trying wildly to wrap around her. She ripped at its flesh with her teeth and nails until the sound of its cries died away, and all that was left was its corpse, floating through the water.

“Well,” Lilith said. “I wonder what basilisk blood will do this concoction.”

“A basilisk?” Zelda yelped. ”How could you possibly tell?“

“You can’t smell it?” She asked, spitting its blood into the water before she took the creature and dropped it over the edge of the balneae. She’d save it for later, pull its eyes for some plan.

Still, no one _should_ have known about their bath. Only the male Spellman and Minion would have known. There were two options––one or both of them had betrayed her, _or_ , somehow, they were be scried on.

Lilith knew that _she_ was immune to be scried upon…but _Zelda_ ….

“You’re angry,” Zelda said. 

She was. Of course, a witch of Zelda’s pedigree would be _so arrogant_ as to not protect herself from scrying. “You and I are going to have a little chat later,” Lilith advised, and she felt the shifting emotions from Zelda. Annoyance, anger shifting underneath it, but underneath it all was something twisted. A fear of Lilith––well, that she expected. Still, it seemed different to how Zelda had been in the throne room. This was almost…paralysing anxiety.

Interesting. 

It was a shame. Her own emotions ebbed and flowed, but had it not been for the distraction, she would have been halfway to itching a scratch––now she remained conflicted and tense, her thoughts pouring over to what to do.

There was little doubt that the cause of _this_ assassin was the kings, but the previous one left her concerned. Perhaps she’d been wrong to assume it’d come from the Garden. Perhaps someone had brought it in and left it to roam, biding its time until they were deep asleep. Which raised the concern then as to _what_ was in her garden and how it got there.

“How long do we bathe in the water?” Lilith asked. 

“An hour.”

Hmm. Only fifteen minutes had passed. The basilisk blood would long be soaked in the concoction, changing it. But it was difficult to say how it would affect the spell. She supposed they would find out, likely sooner than later. 

Zelda’s emotions flashed, likely bouncing from her own, and Lilith sighed, settling in the water again. She could feel the anxiety cooling in her alleged concubine, but whatever chance they had was long washed away.

“How did you kill the basilisk?” Zelda asked.

“Ripped its throat out. It wasn’t fully grown yet.”

“Why would someone send a hatchling?”

“They’re just as deadly as they are fully grown, but I imagine that they only conceived the plan recently, and as such, only hatched the basilisk recently.” She paused then, taking that in thought. She’d need to do something about the Kings soon.

First, the Pagans, then Lucifer. Sabrina would win the Unholy Regalia, and then they could plot to decimate the Kings and Caliban in one swift movement. 

Zelda’s emotions shifted again, perhaps fuelled by determination. In pitch darkness, Lilith could still feel where Zelda’s presence was. “Tomorrow, you and I will face the pagans,” she said firmly. 

“And then what?” Zelda asked. “How will we destroy them?”

“Do you trust me?”

The bond wavered. “No.” At least she was honest. “But I trust that you want the coven to survive if only to keep Lucifer locked-up.” It was enough, Lilith supposed. 


End file.
